


Mission Impossible

by surrender_your_writing



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Ratings: R, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-11 05:59:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10456974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surrender_your_writing/pseuds/surrender_your_writing
Summary: Five years ago, the captain of the Magnolia Police Department Makarov Dreyer opened a case to capture Fiore's notorious criminal Zeref Dragneel. Now, the new captain of the MPD Erza Scarlet has jumpstarted the investigation again with Natsu Dragneel right at the helm. Then he meets Lucy Heartfilia, Zeref's number one assassin. Together, will they be able to bring down Zeref?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here is my brand new Fairy Tail AU!! I'm really excited about this story and I hope you all like it. Please make sure you leave a review to let me know what you think. I'll be posting both the prologue and the first chapter for this week, so please enjoy!!

_**Prologue** _

She stared at herself in the full-body mirror amidst the dim glow of the numerous candles scattered throughout the enormous bedroom. Behind her reflection, she could see the dark-haired, handsome man sitting up in the bed, the blankets thankfully covering his lower half. She did everything in her power not to look at him, to check to make sure he hadn’t moved. If she so much as glanced at his reflection, he would start towards her and order her back to bed. And she most certainly didn’t want that again.

She hated the man with every fiber of her being. She hated looking at him, being trapped in his arms, making love to him… She was living a nightmare from which there was no waking. But she was glad she was far away from him and fully clothes. She felt dirty and exposed when she was forced to undress in front of him. After each time they made love, she spent at least an hour or more in the shower in an attempt to cleanse herself of his smell, his touch, of her memories of when he crawled all over her and kissed her. She shivered as she remembered just a few moments ago when he demanded to have her before she got ready. She couldn’t wait to go above ground and forget it all, even just for a few hours.

Considering what most of the other girls had compared to her, Lucy Heartfilia was living like a queen in the hellhole they had been subjected to. She was his right hand and she did everything she could to make the other girls’ lives easier. But despite her seemingly impressive status, she was still a prisoner, just like them. She was still coerced to do things she didn’t want to do: kill, cheat, steal, and seduce men she didn’t know or care about.

And tonight was no exception. She stood before the mirror, touching up her makeup she reached for from the large vanity on her right. She had taken a while to get ready in an effort to delay the inevitable but at the same time, she knew he was aroused by seeing her dressed in such a way. He loved it when she got ready for these occasions.

She was dressed in a long, baby blue, silk dress with intricate vine flower embroidery from the right side of her chest down to her left hip. She wore a pair of white heels adorned with crystals and her long blonde hair was styled and braided along the sides of her head, the ends coming together in a swirl of curls behind her. The slit on the right side gave her enough leg room to do her job and a pair of small, black shorts covered her underneath the dress as well. As she patted her cheeks again with more blush, she made the mistake of catching the man’s eyes as he leaned forward to watch her get ready. With a sickening feeling her stomach, she saw as he rose from the bed, the blankets falling to the side of the bed as he started towards her. He was now completely naked and he was walking right for her.

It took every ounce of her being not to run out of the room: instead, she closed the blush compact and placed it down on the vanity, smoothing down her dress. Suddenly, his arms were around her waist and he pulled her against him. Her heels gave her a few inches on him but she knew she couldn’t do anything with them. She was trapped. There was no escape. She would just have to play along.

“You look so goddamn beautiful,” he said as he breathed her scent in with a long, deep inhale. She fought to keep her body still yet relaxed. If he even sensed the slightest bit of hesitation in her, she would be thrown in the cell.

_Just play along._

“Oh, not now,” she sighed, trying to sound happy as she felt his fingers wander under the slit in the dress to her shorts. “I have to get going, you know I do.” Thankfully, after his fingers gently tickled her skin, he reluctantly released her and spun her around to face him.

“I know, darling, I know,” he said, clearly unhappy. _But at least he’s not unhappy with me._ “I hate it so when you have to leave me.” Lucy nodded and allowed him to lay a disgustingly wet kiss on her lips. A knock sounded at the door and Lucy felt the vanity beside them shake as he slammed his fist on it.

“What?” he barked. Lucy hurriedly handed him a red bathrobe laying on the red couch behind him as he sauntered towards the entrance of the bedroom.

“I’m sorry, sir, but the Queen needs to take her leave,” someone said from behind the large wooden doors.

“I know that,” he snapped back, angrily tying the sash around himself. Sighing, he waved for Lucy to join him. She moved swiftly, holding up a finger so she could retrieve something. She stopped by the bureau nearest the door and unwrapped the Glock 19 pistol from its silk scarf inside one of the drawers. She hated having to look at it when she wasn’t using it. Grabbing the leg holster and strapping it around her left leg, she quickly slid the gun into its place and stopped beside him.

“Good luck, darling,” he said, kissing her again.

“I’ll be back soon, Zeref,” she replied, opening the large, heavy doors. Stepping outside and following the group of men who had been waiting for her, Lucy gave a sigh of relief.


	2. Chapter 2

_**One** _

Natsu’s desk was a mess. The only time his office was ever really clean or orderly was when he first stepped into it four years ago. Ever since he became an occupant of the room, nothing was organized in the way other detectives’ offices were. The books stacked in the shelves were slouched against each other and some misplaced papers had been stuffed in various places next to them, in the chairs in front of his desk sat stacks of boxes overflowing with files, and his desk was piled high with paperwork, files, and other various forms Natsu had no use for but wound up in the pile anyway.

Yet, somehow, he always found the specific file he needed to read over or the notepad he had written all his notes in. It was chaos, but it was Natsu’s chaos and only he was able to navigate through it.

That morning, he was looking over a file he had read more times than he could count. A file he knew backwards and forwards but still picked up every now and again. And there he was again, glancing over the facts of the thick folder for the millionth time. But today was different. Something was going to be done at last to bring the criminal to justice.

The infamous Zeref Dragneel, Natsu’s own brother.

“Natsu.” Stopping mid-sentence to address the voice, Natsu looked up and saw Erza Scarlet standing in the doorway of his office. “We’re getting ready for the meeting. Are you ready?” Closing the file and standing from his desk with it tucked under his arm, Natsu nodded and walked to the door.

Erza was the captain of Magnolia’s police department and had finally made the decision to go send out her detectives again to investigate the case of Zeref Dragneel. It had been five years since the case was first started by Erza’s predecessor, Makarov Dreyer. After he retired, the current captain hired Natsu and many other detectives and reconstructed the office to be more organized and professional.

The case had been closed because any and all leads Captain Dreyer discovered were killed by Zeref’s lackey’s. They had been considered a danger to Zeref’s market and he eliminated them all, severing any ties the MPD had and preventing them from continuing with their investigation. It was still an open file but it hadn’t been pursued any further.

Until now.

Erza assembled her best detectives throughout the MPD and chose the ones she believed would be vital to the success of the case: Natsu, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, Cana Alberona, Jellal Fernandez, Gajeel Redfox, and Levy McGarden. These seven PIs were what she believed to be the best of the best. Despite none of them being thirty years of age, all of them individually were incredible investigators, cracking and solving cases many of their colleagues had difficulties with. And Erza was planning on assembling them all today to discuss the official reopening of the Zeref Dragneel file.

“How do you feel about today?” Erza asked Natsu as they walked past the other detectives busy at their desks either filling out paperwork or yelling into their phones. Clutching the file, Natsu shrugged his shoulders.

“About the same as every other day,” he said, giving Erza a smirk. But she wasn’t convinced.

“Aren’t you nervous about everyone and what they might think about you being on a case concerning your own brother?” she pressed.

“To be perfectly honest, I don’t really care,” Natsu replied confidently. “They can think whatever they want to think, I can’t stop that. But I’m extremely serious about this investigation and bringing Zeref to justice.”

Natsu was actually very close with most of the people Erza assigned to the case. However, it was only she who knew the details of Natsu’s past with his brother. After their parents had died, Natsu and Zeref were left to fend for themselves on the streets. Being the eldest, Zeref took on the parent role and did everything in his power to keep himself and Natsu safe from the dangers of living on Magnolia’s slums. However, it was only a matter of time until their punishing lives hardened them both. Natsu didn’t resorted to thieving or killing like his brother, but he learned to keep most people at a distance—he quickly found out you can’t really trust anyone. But Zeref became an entirely different person: he started getting involved in dangerous gangs and dealt drugs and weapons to bring in enough money to keep his and Natsu’s poor excuse of an apartment.

Natsu tried to remain an honest man; picking up jobs at random like taking night guard positions at factories, selling newspapers, or delivering food to stores or their employees. He swore he would never fall into the life his brother had made for himself. Eventually, he had stored enough of his own money away to leave that life and Zeref behind. He desperately tried to convince his brother to join him and quit the associations he was a part of. But Zeref refused. He liked who he was, he had said and he was doing a hell of a lot better than anyone who lived on the “flip-side.” He had said he would take his chances and told Natsu to get out.

“Zeref,” Natsu had said, angry at the man Zeref had abandoned all those years ago, the kind elderly brother who would never hurt anyone who hadn’t done them wrong. “If we cross paths some day in the future, you know I won’t have a choice.” Zeref had laughed.

“Oh, brother,” he had replied. “I think it would be best if we just went our separate ways. Don’t go pursuing me when you become a _cop_. You’ll deeply regret it.”

Shocked by his threatening words, Natsu stormed out and never looked back. From that day forth, he cut all ties with his brother and went to school, becoming a private detective just like he dreamed. He had no information on his brother despite being inquired while in school when Captain Makarov first opened the case. He didn’t even know if Zeref was still Zeref; he could’ve changed his name and moved outside Magnolia for all he knew. His brother was as much of a mystery to him as to the people looking for him.

When he finally was hired by Erza right in the heart of the MPD, she demanded to know everything about Natsu’s past and his affiliation with Zeref. He had been hesitant at first but gave in. Zeref had put himself in this position. Natsu had given him a choice that day to forget their awful life in the slums but he refused. And how could he possibly expect Natsu to come after him? He’d done so many awful things. Newspapers and magazines all over Magnolia told the terrible stories of Zeref’s underground empire and the crimes they committed daily.

Zeref was forcing Natsu’s hand. And it was time he was brought in.

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way,” Erza said, smiling at Natsu’s response. “But if anyone does give you problems, don’t hesitate to tell me. I don’t want a civil war breaking out during this investigation. It’s far too important for everyone to start turning on one another.” Natsu nodded and fixed his gaze on the large room in the back. The frosted glass prevented anyone from seeing inside the room so Natsu couldn’t see if anyone was inside yet. As he and Erza came closer, he felt his knuckles protest in pain as he clenched the file tighter in his hand.

_Today is the beginning of the end, brother._

“Go ahead,” Erza said after pushing the door open. Natsu stepped in and looked to his fellow teammates standing or sitting in the room, talking. When he and Erza entered the room, the conversations stopped and all eyes turned to them.

“Good morning, everyone,” Erza said, closing the door behind her and moving to the projector at the front of the room. “Please, take a seat.” Natsu smiled at his friends and they all nodded back in greeting, pulling back the chairs at the long table in the middle of the room. Settled in, Natsu placed his file down in front of him and swiveled in the chair to face the projector screen which displayed the only existing photo of Zeref Dragneel the MPD had.

“As I’m sure most of you know, you have all been gathered here today because I believe you to be the few individuals in this office who can bring this maniac to justice,” Erza began, arms crossed behind her back. “Today marks the day we will be officially reopening the case our previous captain started on Fiore’s most notorious crime boss, Zeref Dragneel.

“It might’ve seemed a bit surprising when I met with each of you to tell you you would be assigned to the case. As you know, the investigation ceased because any insiders we had were killed by Zeref’s lackeys. However, I can now inform you we have a new insider. Someone who can help put us back on track.”

Everyone exchanged confused glances. How could anyone have possibly found someone willing to put their life on the line to arrest Zeref? Where were they? _Who_ were they?

“I am also going to tell you something extremely confidential,” Erza continued, not pausing to answer questions. “When I first put in the request, I inquired about the former captain’s living quarters. Makarov Dreyer and his grandson Laxus Dreyer will be assisting us with this case.”

“What?”

“Really?!”

“But how?”

“Their involvement in our mission is strictly between us,” Erza said, raising a hand to silence everyone in the room. “If, for some reason, we need their assistance we have been instructed by Laxus to meet them both at Makarov’s home. But we are only to meet with them if it’s an urgent matter. They don’t want to be connected to the case. If someone on Zeref’s side finds out, they will most certainly be killed. That is why this information is confidential. I don’t want any loudmouths announcing the return of the former captain.” Everyone nodded their heads or gave muffled answers in response.

“Now that we have established the foundation of this investigation, I believe we should start going over the specifics. First, our insider.” Erza glances to Levy who sat closest to her on Erza’s right and she clicked a button on the projector to display the next picture.

“This is the man we currently have in custody who works with Zeref,” Erza said, gesturing to the photo. “His name is Zancrow.” The mugshot on the projector screen showed a fairly young man—most likely in his late twenties—with long blonde, spiky hair that was tied back to show his face. Zancrow’s eyes were a bright, blood-red color and even though he was posing for the police, he smiled psychotically at the camera.

“We were fortunately able to make a deal with Zancrow,” Erza said. “If he gives us all the information we require on Zeref, we will only imprison him for twenty-five years or less for good behavior as well as parole should we release him. Due to the dangerous position he is now in, we have kept his arrest quiet which is why none of you even heard we had one of Zeref’s henchmen in the department. No one outside the case is to know about his being here. If someone in Zeref’s circle were to find out about him, he will most certainly be killed.”

“How do we know if all the information he’s giving us is true?” Gajeel asked, breaking the silence amongst the team members.

“The police officer who was able to apprehend him, Gildarts, spent a lot of time interrogating him,” Erza explained. “Fortunately, he was able to guarantee Zancrow’s cooperation and if anything of what he says is false, the deal is off. If he’s smart, he’ll continue working with us.”

Natsu couldn’t help but feel excited about Gildarts Clive. As the MPD’s oldest and most seasoned police officer, he was certainly the best of the best in that department. Natsu had even shadowed him when he was just beginning his career. They were very close friends and Natsu couldn’t wait to work with him again to show him how much he’d grown.

“As I was saying,” Erza said, “after our briefing, I would like to bring you all to meet with Zancrow so we get this mission on the right track.

“From what we have gathered throughout the years, we are almost positive Zeref has been operating somewhere in Magnolia. Many robberies and drug deals have been reported in the city so it’s extremely likely he and his men remain underground to keep tabs on everything,” Erza said. “Hopefully, Zancrow will have some information for us on where Zeref’s base is so we can start planning a perimeter for an arrest.”

A knock on the meeting room door startled everyone, even causing Erza to jump. Natsu glanced back at her and saw her smiling as she walked to the door. The outline of a figure stood in front of the glass and she opened entrance to reveal Gildarts Clive. He smiled and waited for Erza to step out of the way so he could enter the room, giving everyone a quick wave before taking his place next to the projector screen.

“Good morning, everyone,” he said, hands behind his back like Erza. Letting him take the spotlight, she stood with her arms crossed in a relaxed position near the wall. It was Gildarts’ turn.

“I would first like to say, congratulations,” he began. “You have each been selected to be on this team because Captain Scarlet believes you to be the best of the best. And it comes as no surprise to me that she chose my one and only daughter, Cana, as well!” Everyone snickered and stared at Cana whose face was turning a bright red.

“Just get on with it, old man!” she shouted, crossing her arms over her chest and slinking down in her chair. Clearing his throat, Gildarts began pacing the room.

“Today, Captain Scarlet and I will be taking you all to meet its Zancrow. As you may already know, his being at the station is completely confidential. You each will be given access cards to his cell so you may visit him whenever you deem it necessary; with either my or Captain Scarlet’s permission, of course.

“He is not considered a very dangerous man, but he doesn’t seem one hundred percent on board with the deal we’ve made with him. He will be difficult to get information out of, so if you feel the need to coerce him, you may do so. However, it is strictly forbidden for anyone to lay hands on him. You can blame me for that one, since I was so… _harsh_ with him when I first brought him in. Nevertheless, he is here to help _us_ , so if for any reason he becomes too difficult, just give him a gentle reminder of our deal. He knows if we leak his presence here, Zeref will no doubt send someone to eliminate him. He is currently under our protection until we get what we want.

“With all that being said, here are your access cards to the underground cells.” Reaching into his pockets, Gildarts pulled out a small envelope which he threw at the table. Each person flipped through the cards to find their own and passed them on to the next. Natsu slipped his out and handed it to Juvia across from him who gave it to Gray next to her. Examining the plastic ID, Natsu noticed the expiration date listed on the bottom righthand corner.

“As you can see, these IDs have an expiration date,” Gildarts noted. “You are only allowed access into the underground cells during this specific investigation. The cells are highly classified and only personnel such as myself and Captain Scarlet are given unlimited access. Once we find and arrest Zeref, you will return your IDs and they will be shredded. Anyone who withholds these IDs will be suspended. And copies cannot be made.”

“Alright, everyone,” Erza said, stepping next to Gildarts. “I believe we should move to the cells.” Gathering their notebooks and folders together, the group rose from the table with IDs in hand, following Gildarts and Erza as they headed out of the room. Gildarts held the door and waited until everyone was outside, Natsu being the last person to exit. Closing the door behind them, Gildarts and Natsu fell back a bit to talk.

“It’s been a while, eh, Natsu?” he asked, slapping him on the back. Natsu smiled back.

“Too long!” Suddenly, Gildarts’ face turned serious and he looked ahead as the two followed the group.

“Things have gotten pretty bad with Zeref’s gang,” he said. Natsu’s smile faded and he nodded, gripping his brother’s file so tightly it started crinkling.

“I know.”

“More and more girls go missing, the drug houses are in full swing again, and thieves and murdered have been running a muck through the city. If this mission doesn’t go as we plan, Zeref will never be arrested.” Natsu kept his eyes at the backs of his friends, now filled with dread.

Many young girls—not just in Magnolia but throughout Fiore—were vanishing. Most of the cases were simply left open as no leads to their whereabouts were ever found by any police departments in the respective cities. However, there were rumors around the MPD the girls were being kidnapped and sold to Zeref as sex slaves and assassins. Natsu didn’t want to believe how villainous his brother had become but with all the gossip, Erza finally acknowledge the talk and confirmed the myths: from what she knew, the girls were in fact being sold to Zeref, though their purpose was unknown. However, it wasn’t too hard to imagine what the young women might’ve been forced to do.

“Do you think we’ll be able to do it?” Natsu asked. Gildarts stared down at him with hard eyes.

“I don’t know. Do _you_ think we can?” he replied, his tone harsher than before. Embarrassed for already having shown doubt in his and his teammates’ abilities, Natsu looked down at the floor. Filled with an overwhelming mixture of frustration, anger, and determination, Natsu nodded.

“Yes,” he said confidently. “I _know_ we can do this.” Gildarts smiled at his previous protégé, pleased by his new reply.

“That’s the kind of attitude you and your partners need to have in a case this big. Zeref’s operations don’t just start and stop with Magnolia. He has factions all over the kingdom,” he explained. “Even after we take down Zeref we’ll still have a whole lot of mess to clean up. Someone else might even try to take his place; an apprentice of some sort. This mission doesn’t end when Zeref’s behind bars. We’ll need to interrogate him night and day to get all the information to bring down every single base of his.”

“Zeref is just the first big pawn in this game,” Natsu mused.

“Exactly,” Gildarts agreed. “He’s the king but we need to know who his successor is or his queen.” The thought of someone carrying out his brother legacy was sickening to Natsu. They all needed to be stopped and if he would spend the rest of his career doing so, then so be it. He wouldn’t rest until anyone associated with Zeref Dragneel was thrown in prison.

The group ahead came to the elevator at the back of the room. Erza held the doors until Gildarts and Natsu were inside and pressed the button marked “X.” The doors slid shut and the elevator slowly lowered down to the very bottom of the department. After a few minutes, the machine dinged and opened, revealing a dimly lit, metallic hallway. Natsu and his friends stared wide-eyed as Erza and Gildarts began walking into the hidden cells of the MPD.

“Well this is sufficiently spooky,” Cana whispered.

“I can’t believe hardly anyone knows about this place,” Gray said, looking around him.

“I’ve actually known about this place for a while now,” Levy stated. Everyone looked at her in surprise, causing her to blush. “I’m the hacker. I know everything about this department,” she replied defensively.

“I wonder how many people are brought down here,” Juvia mused, moving closer to Gray.

“More than we’ll ever know about,” Natsu said.

“Don’t start daydreaming,” Erza snapped. The group suddenly noticed they were a little ways away from Gildarts and the captain. At Erza’s command, they immediately picked up their pace and came right behind them as they continued down the seemingly endless hallway.

“He’s in 306, right?” Erza asked Gildarts.

“As far as I know,” he replied. The two leaders stopped on the left and Erza swiped her ID through the card reader on the right side of the door and the entrance slid open. A singular light hung in the middle of the room and all that was inside was a long silver table with a figure sleeping on the hard surface.

“Zancrow,” Gildarts said harshly. The man with his head on the table snapped up, squinting his eyes at the sudden light. “You have visitors.” Fixating his eyes on the people in front of him, Zancrow’s lips twisted up in an evil smile.

“Why, hello, there,” he said. “You even brought me some eye-candy.” The girls in the room stared harder at him and Gildarts banged his hand on the table, causing the prisoner to jump.

“Hey, hey, hey! Alright, don’t your boxers in a bunch!” Zancrow shouted.

“We don’t have time for your jokes,” Gildarts hissed. “It’s time for you to keep your end of the bargain. We need information. Now.” Zancrow sighed, shaking the cuffs which were secured around a metal post on the table.

“But I don’t believe you’ve been holding up yours, _Officer_ ,” Zancrow said, staring at Gildarts. “I’ve been sleeping on this awful table for weeks now. My back is killing me. I think I need a better cell before I tell you anything.”

“Consider it done,” Erza interrupted. “But only until you give us what we want first.” Zancrow and Gildarts both turned to her.

“Excellent,” Zancrow said, rubbing his hands together. “Well, I guess we should start.”

 

********

 

Lucy lay on the bed, bare and exposed, as Zeref fell off her, huffing and puffing. She crossed her arms over her breasts and reached for the covers but Zeref stopped her.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked, stilling trying to catch his breath.

“Nothing,” Lucy said as casually as possible. He smiled and threw the blankets off her, kissing her chest, the top of her breasts, and all the way down. She hid her hands and curled them into fists, moaning and sighing to please Zeref as he stretched her legs open. She kept her eyes focused on the arched ceiling of the canopy bed above. She tried to escape the reality by drifting into her mind but she was having a difficult time as Zeref fooled around with her. She hated that she was always aroused by him when they had sex. She wished her body would reject him like her mind and heart did. As he licked and fingered her, despite her best efforts to escape, Lucy was yanked back in the bed as Zeref tried to pleasure her.

“Zeref,” Lucy moaned, not being able to take it anymore. “Please stop.” Shocked by her request, Zeref quickly returned to her side. Closing her legs tightly and yanking the covers back over her, Lucy avoided his eyes though he eventually turned her face to him.

“Darling,” he said, “what’s wrong?” Worried she seemed too suspicious, Lucy smiled and shook her head.

“I’m just tired, that’s all. Last night took a lot out of me,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. He squeezed it tightly and shook his head.

“I heard,” he replied. “Sometimes I think about removing you from it entirely.”

“Oh, no!” Lucy exclaimed all too eagerly. Doubling back, she quickly recovered. “It’s really no trouble but I just need more sleep.” Sighing, Zeref nodded.

“It just takes away from our alone time, that’s all,” he said, stroking her side.

“I promise I’ll be alright soon. I only need rest,” she reassured him.

When he moved away from her, Lucy flipped onto her left side, bringing the covers high up to cover her face. Once she heard the bathroom door close, she crumpled in on herself and let a few tears fall down her face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I do apologize for not having updated this story in so long. Something happened which prevented me from writing for a while but I promise I am back on track. I hope to have a somewhat regular uploading schedule established for this story but since it's almost the end of the semester, I, unfortunately, can't guarantee anything. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this week's installment and please make sure to leave a review to let me know what you think. Enjoy!!

_**Two** _

“What do you mean you don’t know where Zeref’s base is?” Gildarts shouted. Zancrow flinched away at the officer’s tone but he shrugged when he realized he wasn’t going to do anything.

“That’s why we even offered you the deal, Zancrow,” Erza said sternly. “Are you saying you lied to us?”

“Look, I’m only part of a specific _faction_ ,” Zancrow explained. “There are factions all over Magnolia and thousands more all over the kingdom. Only the people Zeref really trusts and his whores go to the main base and no one knows where it is except for the faction leaders. It’s a very intricate system.”

“Intricate my ass,” Gildarts growled. “So where’s your faction then? We can find the leader and get _him_ to tell us where Zeref’s base is.”

“Good luck doing that,” Zancrow snorted. “The leaders are barely around. They always have jobs to do throughout the day.”

“Then how do we find your leader?” Erza demanded, coming towards the table and leaning towards Zancrow.

“All I know is that before you nabbed me, our faction was planning on gathering a drug shipment from Hargeon. It’s coming in two days so if you want to find my faction’s leader, you’ll find her there.”

“It’s a woman?” Erza asked.

“I thought all your women were given to Zeref,” Gildarts said.

“All except this one,” Zancrow said. “I don’t know her name but I’ve heard she’s not to be fucked with. I doubt she’ll be an easy one to capture.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handle her,” Erza said, rising up from her position and motioning for the group to head out. “We’ll be back when we need more from you.” As everyone headed for the door, Zancrow stood up, clanking his cuffs against their restraint.

“Hey, wait a minute!” he cried out. “What about my new room?! We had a deal!” Erza turned her head as her detectives left the room, narrowing her eyes.

“Our deal was that you would give us information about Zeref’s base,” Erza said. “Frankly, I believe our _entire_ deal needs to be overlooked, considering you don’t even know where Zeref lives. We’ll still have some use for you, but I doubt the same agreements will stand considering you lied to us about your knowledge.”

“But—”

“And I suggest not making that mistake again, Zancrow,” Erza suggested, her eyes cold as stone. Even after Erza and the group left, Zancrow stood, his gaze lowered the hard metal table which would still act as his bed until further notice.

“Well that’s great,” Cana said, crossing her arms. “So even though we have a guy from the inside, he turns out to be completely useless.”

“Not entirely,” Levy interjected. “We may not know where Zeref’s headquarters is but we have a lead: the drug shipment in Hargeon. And that’s _something_.”

“Levy’s right,” Natsu said. “We now have to focus our time and energy on figuring who this woman is that leads Zancrow’s faction. Then, once the shipment is ready to dock, we’ll be ready.” His teammates nodded their approval and Natsu felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his left to see Gildarts smiling at him.

“Alright, everyone,” Erza said, already walking down the hallway. “Once we get back upstairs, I want you all to focus on finding any other possible leads. If you have something both Gildarts and I agree might be significant, we’ll return to Zancrow’s cell. Until then, keep working.”

Once the group arrived back in the department and settled inside the meeting room again, Erza and Gildarts stood back at the front of the room but the projector was off. It was now time to focus on the details of the case: the briefing was over and the time of action was upon them.

Alright,” Erza said, crossing her arms over her chest, “once I let you all go, I want you to start your research. Get together, find solutions to the problems, gather and link your findings. Teamwork is going to be key in this case. And don’t just focus on this drug shipment. Try to find information on Zeref’s base, the missing girls, anything else that could be pivotal to our investigation. If you come across anything you think is good, come to me in my office and we can discuss the whether or not it's usable."

Looking around the room at her detectives' faces, Erza smiled as she said, "Dismissed." Everyone collectively stood up and headed out the room, already planning in their heads how they would start their inquiries. As soon as the door closed behind them, Natsu signaled for them all to follow him. Since he was the leader of the group, he wanted to kick it off on a good note. Brainstorming and answering any of their questions about why he was part of the case seemed ideal. Heading into his office, Natsu waited until everyone was inside and closed the door, walking up behind the desk to get everyone's attention as they chit-chatted away.

"Okay, guys," Natsu shouted over his teammates. They all began to settle down, leaning against the bookshelves or sitting down on the two chairs, a few others perched on the arms. "I think the best way to go about this to split into a few groups. That way some can focus on a the drug shipment, some the missing girls, and the rest can look into the makings of Zancrow’s faction.”

“Do you already have the teams in mind?” Gray asked who was sitting in a chair with Juvia on its arm. Taking a small notebook off his desk, Natsu flipped to the most current page he had written in.

“Gray, you and Juvia will be looking into the missing girls. Try to figure out who went missing first, if there were any witnesses when they disappeared, and if there are any connections to them.

“Cana and Jellal, you two will be focusing on finding out anything about Zancrow’s faction. See if you can find anything about their leader, where they’re located, anything that can be used as leverage against Zancrow in case he decides to go quiet.

“And Levy and Gajeel, I want you both to do research on the drug shipment Zancrow mentioned and any other type of shipments—either past or future—which could be targets. If any of these teams come across something interesting, let me know and we can present it to Captain Scarlet and Officer Clive. If there are no questions, you can go and start your work.” Jotting some things down in their notebooks, everyone got up and headed for the door. Everyone, except for Gray.

“What can I do for you, Detective Fullbuster?” Natsu asked, pretending to fish around his desk for something. He already knew what was coming but he was doing his best to avoid it.

“Can’t we drop the formalities, Natsu?” Gray said, still seated in the chair across from the desk. “I wanna talk.”

“You have questions about the case?”

“No. I have questions about you.” Natsu looked up and saw Gray was now standing right in front of the desk, arms crossed over his chest. His usually serious face was now soft and he looked at his friend with concern.

“I know this must be hard for you,” he said.

“What must be hard?”

“Ah, c’mon, Natsu. Are we really not gonna address the elephant in the room?” Natsu sighed and shook his head.

“If you’re worried about me, don’t be. Erza has made it very clear weeks before that she will pull me from the case if she doesn’t think I can handle it.”

“I don’t care what Erza has told you. Anything she says in the department she says strictly as Captain. I’m coming to you now as a friend. I just don't want you to let this investigation take control over you. Bringing Zeref in is important, but so is your health. I don’t want you getting wrapped up in all this.”

Natsu knew Gray was trying to be nice, but Natsu had already heard this spiel. If anyone was forced to hunt down their own sibling to only throw them in prison, it would tear them up. But what his teammates didn’t seem to understand was that Natsu wasn’t being torn apart about it. His brother was a dangerous man and needed to be stopped. The majority of the crimes in Fiore could be connected to Zeref and too many people had their lives destroyed because of him. It didn’t matter they shared the same last name or that the same blood flowed through their veins: Zeref had made his decision a long time ago and he was going to have to live with the consequences.

“I appreciate your concern, Gray, I really do but there’s nothing to be worried about. Everything will be fine,” Natsu explained, making sure to smile. Gray was silent for a while before he grinned back.

“Well, just do you know, we’re all here for you. No matter what,” he said.

“As if I didn’t already know that,” Natsu laughed, walking up in front of Gray and patting his shoulder. Gray chuckled and headed towards the door of the office. Once Gray was gone Natsu returned to his desk and shifted through the mess, organizing the irrelevant files in the drawers behind him.

When he was done, Natsu stared down at what was left: a thin folder which contained the only information the MPD had on Zeref and his own notebook. Soon, though, his desk would be messy once again with every single scrap of paper anyone on his team thought was significant. Knowing his office wouldn’t be clean for long made Natsu smile.

_Chaos means things are getting done_.

 

********

 

Lucy waited outside in the warm spring air, soaking up at much of the sun as humanly possible. She couldn’t remember the last time she just stood out in the open. It was considered dangerous considering how close she was to Zeref’s base. Anyone could spot her from where she was standing. But she wasn’t the only one. Some of Zeref’s men—big, burly, angry-looking men—stood in front of her as well. They were all waiting for a delivery.

Once every two weeks, some delivery trucks would bring more supplies for Zeref’s faction. The trucks included clothes, food, and anything else Zeref deemed necessary for his people. And Lucy was always the first one to pick and choose from the supplies. The men probably thought she was there for herself: after all, she was the Queen. But she wasn’t. She was there for the other girls.

Even though Zeref had taken Lucy for his “wife,” he still fooled around with the other girls at the base and allowed his men to have their way with them as well. Lucy, however, was Zeref’s alone. Fortunately, being named the Queen meant Lucy was given special privileges the other girls were not privy to, including being the first ones at the delivery trucks when they arrived. So, Lucy decided to take it upon herself to act a motherly figure to the imprisoned girls and use her privileges to get them things which were in very short quantities. Despite the large number of girls who Zeref had chosen as his sex slaves, not all of them were “put to work.” Half of them were mainly just assassins and weren’t normally chosen when Zeref or his men were struck with desire. Those were the ones who needed the pads or tampons. And then there were the ones who were in “high demand”: they required things like contraceptives and condoms. The men always had their own supply of those, but it was always comforting to have extras.

After a couple more minutes, the men and Lucy heard the sound of tired crunchy over the terrain. The men readied their weapons in case the cargo had somehow been hijacked, and Lucy made sure to stay hidden just in case. She never carried her weapon when she wasn’t working. The trucks finally made it up the small incline and stopped to begin unloading. Lucy stepped out first, waiting as the drivers lifted the back of the trucks. The drivers looked to Zeref’s men behind them but they nodded their heads in reassurance.

“It’s okay,” one of them said. “Let her finish.”

Keeping in mind all the things the girls had requested, Lucy moved quickly and jumped from truck to truck. Taking a basket from the food truck, she began filling it with small snacks, extra clothing, and other items. Once she was finished, she jumped down from the last truck and headed back to the base. As she walked, she kept her eyes straight ahead, blocking out any stares. Though she was off-limits, it didn’t stop any of the men from ogling. Right when she reached the entrance, she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Ready to smack it away, Lucy almost dropped her basket until she realized it was a friend. The man was tall, extremely muscular, and white spiky hair. No one would probably ever say he was related to Mirajane.

“Elfman,” Lucy breathed, slowing her breathing. “How are you?”

“About as good as I can be,” he said, rolling his eyes. He jutted his chin to the basket, still holding his gun. “Those for the girls?”

“I try to do everything I can for them in this place,” Lucy said.

“How’re my sisters?” Elfman and his sisters—Mirajane and Lisanna—were picked up by Zeref’s men a few years ago. They were homeless outcasts with no place to go and they were told they would food, clothing, and shelter if they joined Zeref. Desperate, they had agreed only to find the place they were in now was worse than being homeless. Elfman became a lackey and Mirajane and Lisanna became two of the most popular girls at the base: both their skills and their bodies were considered deadly.

“Lisanna is doing alright,” Lucy answered, “but Mirajane has been requested by Zeref more than usual lately. She’s beginning to get worried.”

“They’re not…” Elfman sighed, scratching the back of his head. But Lucy already knew what he was going to ask.

“They are perfectly healthy. Nothing is wrong with them,” Lucy promised. Elfman sighed in relief and smiled a little. If there was one thing Zeref hated more than traitors, it was disease: everyone, especially the girls, were checked for illnesses and STDs monthly. Lucy couldn’t even remember a time someone didn’t come back clean. It was probably the only positive side of things: no one was ever sick.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Elfman said.

“Please, call me Lucy,” she smiled, gently touching Elfman’s arm.

“Thank you, Lucy. I mean it. You don’t have to look out for these girls but you do anyways because it’s the right thing. That’s very manly of you.” Lucy giggled at his joke and he smiled.

“Alright, well, I’ll tell your sisters you said hello. I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Lucy said, walking away. Elfman waved and turned back to his post.

As she walked back into the base, Lucy’s smile faded. Elfman thought her efforts to alleviate the girls’ suffering was selfless. In reality, it was the exact opposite. She was only doing it to keep her mind elsewhere in order to forget. She wasn’t selfless at all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Like I had said a while ago, I had been going through a really rough time as well as having to study for exams and both of those things made it fairly difficult to sit down and write. However, now that I'm out and things have been better lately, I will be working very hard on uploading chapters in a timely manner. So, after such a long time, I present to you Chapter Three! Please enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review to let me know what you think.

_**Three** _

The next morning, Natsu was the first one back at the department: not even the regular desk workers had arrived yet. But he wanted to get started as soon as possible. Finding Zeref’s base wasn’t going to be easy and he wanted to get a head start. Yet, as soon as he entered his office, he saw Erza sitting behind his desk with her feet up and eating a piece of cake.  
“Captain Scarlet,” Natsu said, surprised. As he crossed the threshold of the room, he closed the door behind him. “I didn’t expect to see you so early.”  
“Something’s come up,” she replied, lifting her feet off the top and standing up. “Levy and Gajeel found information on the ships coming into to Hargeon. They requested to see Zancrow and I thought everyone should be there. I wanted to catch you first thing and I figured you’d come in early.”  
“Let’s get going then,” Natsu agreed, handing Erza his folders and notebook which she placed on his desk. With her cake in one hand, Erza led the way to the underground prisons.  
“Everyone else is already down there, but I insisted we wait for you. Considering you’re the second in command,” she explained. When she finished her breakfast, Erza crumpled the plastic fork inside the disposable plate and balled it up in her fist.  
“Do you think Zancrow is going to tell us which ship has the drugs?” Natsu asked. Walking side by side, he could see Erza’s serious expression wavered.  
“I believe Gildarts has…secured the matter once and for all,” she said, the corner of her lips twitching.  
Once they came to Zancrow’s cell, Natsu spotted his teammates waiting outside the room with Gildarts leaning against the door. He stood up as Erza and Natsu approached them and he swiped his ID to open the cell.  
“How’s he doing?” Erza asked in a low voice. She obviously didn’t want the others to hear her above their own chatter but Natsu was still close enough to catch it.  
“He’s doing better. Pretty bruised but he’s not talking about it anymore,” Gildarts replied in a soft tone. “I think now would be the time to get him that special room.” Erza shook her head as the two stepped into the cell and everyone followed suit. Natsu was the first of his friends to enter the cell and what he saw shocked him.  
Zancrow sat at the same table, handcuffed to it, but his face was what caught Natsu off guard. His right eye was a deep dark blue and completely shut, his nose was covered with a giant bandage, and his lip had a couple of stitches in it. Glancing at the rest of him, Natsu also noticed both of his hands were wrapped in gauze and the bumps where his knuckles protruded from the dressings had spots of blood seeping through. Zancrow looked like absolute hell.  
“Oh my god,” Cana blurted out. “What happened?” Zancrow, who had been staring at his hands, used his one good eye to glance quickly at Gildarts. Anyone else might’ve missed it, but Natsu caught it right away.  
“Don’t worry,” Erza interrupted before Gildarts could answer. “Zancrow is doing just fine. In fact, I believe he will be far more cooperative from now on. Isn’t that right?” Zancrow only sighed. Erza turned her gaze to Levy and Gajeel who were still staring at Zancrow’s state.  
“Oh!” Levy exclaimed when she finally noticed Erza gazing at them. With a folder in her hand, Levy strode in front of Zancrow and placed her folder down on the table to flip it open. Inside were some files but Levy ended up taking out the three large pictures and sliding them towards Zancrow so he could examine them.  
“My partner and I found three shipments scheduled to port in Hargeon tomorrow night,” she said. “We want you to tell us which one it will be.” Zancrow scooted closer but only gave the pictures a short glance before scoffing and leaning back in his chair.  
“You guys all call yourself’s detectives,” he snorted. “Do you really think a ship carrying drugs and other illegal shit is going to be written as a scheduled shipment?” Everyone stared at him with confusion until Erza stepped in.  
“Then would you be so gracious as to tell us the name of the ship and what time it will dock?” she said angrily.  
“Its name is The Pegasus,” Zancrow sighed. “I don’t know what time it’ll be docking but I’m sure it won’t be until late at night. Probably after the dockworkers go home for the night and after those other ships have left. My guess, midnight or later.” Levy quickly gathered the pictures together back in their folder and scribbled Zancrow’s information down on a small notepad.  
“And you’re positive your faction leader will be there?” Gajeel asked, eyeing Zancrow who ogled Levy every now again. Natsu could see it was taking all of his friend’s strength not to leap across the table and pound Zancrow’s other eye shut.  
“The faction leaders are always present at exchanges to make sure they go smoothly,” Zancrow answered, noticing Gajeel’s intense stares. “I guarantee she will be there.” It was silent in the room again before Erza spoke.  
“Well, thank you, Zancrow for your cooperation,” she said. “I’ll see to it you get that bed you requested before the next time we see you.”  
Now that he was longer being addressed, Zancrow’s eyes fell on the table again as everyone filed out of the room. Once the door was closed Gildarts sighed loudly, drawing the attention of Natsu and his friends.  
“So are you going to tell us what the hell happened to his face?” Cana asked testily.  
“Zancrow’s condition is not considered fatal so there’s no reason to explain the situation,” Erza butted in. “All you need to know is that our higher ups are watching our case very closely now and none of you are allowed to lay a finger on him. If you encounter a problem, you are to bring it directly to either myself or Gildarts. The last thing we need is for this investigation to be shut down because of our own stupid mistakes.”  
“But at least we’ve got more intel now,” Natsu said. “Now we have the name of the ship and a rough estimate of when it will be docking. Once we arrest Zancrow’s faction leader, we’ll keep getting closer to Zeref.”  
“Natsu-san is right,” Juvia said. “Gray-sama and Juvia have been tracking and linking the girls’ disappearances. Right now, all we know is they either come from extremely wealthy and influential families or they were homeless.”  
“So could the daughters of the rich families be considered leverage for Zeref to get their parents’ money?” Erza asked.  
“That’s what it’s looking like,” Gray answered. “And the dirt poor girls were probably swept up because no one would miss them.”  
“Any witnesses to their disappearances?” Natsu inquired.  
“None of the police reports we’ve found have said anything about witnesses or statements pertaining to the kidnappings,” he replied. “When these girls were taken it was done with expertise to avoid any problems with the police.”  
“Great,” Cana sighed. “Another dead end.”  
“Not necessarily,” Levy spoke up. “Right now, we should focus on invading the drug shipment and apprehending the faction leader. One door might’ve closed but another is open now and we need to take it.”  
“This case will most likely bring up a lot of useless leads,” Erza said. “No one ever said it was going to be easy, but it’s not impossible.” The group nodded and a new confidence built up within them to get busy.  
“Natsu, I believe you can take it from here,” she said, parting the crowd so she and Gildarts could head back upstairs.  
“Right,” Natsu said. “Alright, Gray and Juvia, I want you both to try and think of any other girls that might go missing. Rich or not, locate them and bring their names to me. Levy and Gajeel, start informing our guys about this drug shipment. I want every single person in the department who knows how to fire a gun to be there tomorrow night. And Cana and Jellal. Have you two found anything?”  
“We found one possibility,” Jellal said though his expression said it wasn’t much. “We’ve searched abandoned buildings and any other obscure places throughout Magnolia but nothing definitive yet.”  
“We’re thinking some place far on the outskirts of the city,” Cana interjected. “I did find one place which seems pretty secluded and the most likely spot for a faction of Zeref’s system. Its facade is called Mag Drug and it’s considered a little unorthodox magic shop where people can buy illegal spells or potions. It’s the most likely candidate but until we do more research we won’t know for sure.”  
“Most likely, once we apprehend Zancrow’s faction leader we’ll be able to confirm it,” Jellal said.  
“Hopefully when we nab the faction leader we’ll get more outta her than just her base information,” Gajeel cut in.  
“Well, in order for that to happen a lot of planning will have to go into our new operation,” Natsu replied. “From now on, our main priority is getting at much information together as humanly possible about The Pegasus and her crew. We’ll have to gather a team of police officers and other law enforcements and fill them in on everything so far. They’ll have to be present as well for when this shipment comes in. Everyone clear?” Natsu’s team nodded their heads and some gave muffled words of agreement.  
“Good. Now let’s head back up and get started.”

  
********

  
Lucy was on top that night. Zeref liked to change things up every now again and Lucy hated when he demanded she be the one pleasuring him. She felt far more exposed and it was humiliating. Having sex with Zeref was bad enough but when she had to give in to his wishes, it made her feel like an accessory.  
It felt dehumanizing.  
Nonetheless, there she was—sitting on top of Zeref as she humped and moaned for him. She kept her head tilted back so she only had to look at the ceiling of their canopy bed and she rocked herself back and forth on him.  
“Oh, Lucy. Harder, darling. Harder,” Zeref goaded. Squeezing her eyes shut, Lucy painfully thrusted herself deeper into him. It felt like she was being torn apart and there was absolutely no joy in what she was doing.  
Just when she was about to climb off him, Zeref smacked his hands down on her thighs and pressed her back on top. Sitting up, he grabbed her breasts violently and began twisting them. Lucy couldn’t help the occasional whimpers that escaped her lips but she managed to make them come out as softly as possible. When he noticed she wasn’t looking at him, Zeref reached up and grabbed Lucy by the hair, yanking her face down to his.  
“Faster,” he demanded. Lucy forced herself to smile and she pulled his face down to her chest so he couldn’t look at her. As his lips tickled her nipple, she focused her eyes on the headboard of their massive bed.  
Suddenly, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted his head, shaking it. Lucy slowly stopped and looked at him, confused and worried. Had he noticed she was acting strange? If so, he would surely punish her. She still had nightmares about the last time he got angry with her. And the scars would always be a reminder.  
“Lucy,” he sighed, kissing one breast at a time. “Why don’t we try it tonight?” Lucy’s heart picked up and she shook her head.  
“Oh, Zeref,” she said, stroking his hair. “I don’t know if I’m up for it.”  
“Please, darling? You’ll make me the happiest man in the world.”  
Looking into his black eyes, Lucy knew she really didn’t have a choice. Even though he formed his request as a suggestion, she knew better than to deny him. The thought of what he wanted to do next already made her feel mortified. But she belonged to Zeref, not to herself. There was really no other choice. Smirking, she slowly climbed off him and lowered herself down in between his legs.  
“Just tonight,” she whispered. Zeref nodded, closing his eyes as she began licking it. He was already drenched from when she was on top but she couldn’t shrink away. She had to do swallow it. He told her before it turned him off when other girls spit. The only small console she had was thinking about how she could throw it all up later. She didn’t want to think about any part of him staying inside her body longer she allowed.  
As she sucked and gargled, he pressed her head deeper between his legs and begged her to keep going. Feeling like she was going to burst into tears any minute, Zeref suddenly yanked her head up to him. Seizing her breasts again, he pulled her in for a long, wet kiss. He licked her lips and stuck his tongue deep down her throat before positioning her on her hands and knees.  
“W—wait a minute,” Lucy stuttered. “We didn’t agree on this….” It was too late. He was already behind her, thrusting himself inside her again. Shocked by both the suddenness and the pain, Lucy let out a scream which she turned into moans. He humped her like an animal and her whole body shook, not just from the rocking but from the willpower it took not to cry.  
“Lucy… Lucy,” he moaned, going faster and faster. As he continued to hump her, he somehow managed to bring his hands back to her breasts, squeezing them and twisting her nipples. She was in so much pain she couldn’t believe he wasn’t sensing how uncomfortable she was. But then again, it was probably best he didn’t know. Sure he would’ve stopped, but who’s to say he wouldn’t beat her senseless for not loving every minute of it.  
Her body was not her own: it was Zeref’s and he treated it like a sex toy. He only really wanted her around when he was aroused. People gave her the title of “queen” because they believed Zeref had grown fond of her. In reality, he only liked her because she had bigger breasts than most of his girls and she “knew how to please him” and “make him the happiest man on earth.” It was all bullshit. She was less than a person in his eyes. Perhaps if she didn’t have a voice, he would love her more.  
As Zeref started finishing up, a loud knock came on the door of their room. He abruptly stopped and growled as he yanked himself out of Lucy. She let out a barely audible sigh once he released her and she retreated underneath the covers. So enraged by the disruption, Zeref opened the doors without even putting on a bathrobe to cover himself. And he was still hard as a rock.  
“What?!” he demanded, holding the doors.  
“Oh! Your Majesty! I’m so sorry!” stammered the person beyond the threshold.  
“Speak will you still can,” Zeref growled.  
“Oh, right! We just received information from the Magnolia faction. It appears one of its members has gone missing.”  
“Who?”  
“Zancrow, Your Highness.”  
“Does she know?”  
“Yes, but no one’s entirely sure where he was before he went missing. She’s worried he might’ve fallen into law enforcement’s hands.” Zeref slammed his hands against the door.  
“Goddamnit!” he shouted. “What does he know that could give us away?”  
“She said he was supposed to be present at the docking of The Pegasus.”  
“We’ve been waiting on that damn shipment for weeks and now we’ll have to postpone it?!”  
“That’s what she’s suggesting, sir.” Zeref was quiet for a minute before he spoke again.  
“Tell her to find another dock in this fucking kingdom where we can redirect it. There has to be another place we can grab the cargo. We can’t go any longer with it.”  
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Slamming the doors, Zeref stalked back to the bed, rubbing his face in anger.  
“Is everything okay?” Lucy asked, opening the bedsheets for him to crawl in with her.  
“Now I’m worried about this damn shipment. All the guns and drugs on that ship have been stolen and there are most certainly people looking for it all. If we don’t get it out of Cedar and distribute it as soon as possible, we’ll be dealing with the repercussions for months,” Zeref explained.  
“And it’s all just our main supplies?”  
“Yes. We need new guns and ammunition and the drugs we plan to sell to keep our business partners on our good side. We can’t afford to postpone its arrival.”  
“But we have plenty of weapons. Why do we need more?” Zeref sighed and shook his head.  
“Some of our business partners have been pulling out. They think we’re on the verge of being discovered. Speaking of which, one of our main suppliers is having a celebration next weekend. I’d like you to attend it and ensure Balsamico is still trustworthy.”  
“Of course,” Lucy nodded. When he fell silent, she worried Zeref wanted to get back to it as he inched closer and pulled her against him. Luckily, he only nuzzled himself into her chest to fall asleep.  
“Goodnight,” he whispered. Still wired, Lucy gently raked his fingers through his hair as he began drifting off. Once he rolled off her while he dreamed, she crept out of bed and headed into the bathroom where she planned to rid herself of him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TO MY READERS: Hello again, everyone! So since I'm officially out of my summer classes and on vacation, I am going to make sure to have as many chapters written ahead of time as humanly possible. I thank you all for your patience and I hope you will stick around for the rest of this story because I can promise much more to come. But without further ado, here is the fourth chapter of Mission Impossible!

_**Four** _

Natsu had been up most of the night making sure everything was set for the infiltration of  _The Pegasus_  shipment. That morning he was exhausted and ready to collapse from the moment he took a seat at his desk. Refusing to give in to his drowsiness, he got up and made a fresh pot of coffee so his to-go cup would always be full.

It was about eight o'clock and Natsu wanted to go over some things he had been investigating concerning Zeref's whereabouts. There had been a few sightings of him in different parts of Fiore but there were never any details about how he arrived or left the various locations. When his brother moved around, he did so extremely vigilantly. Getting caught meant the end of everything he had built over the years.

However, a few other sightings caught Natsu's interest as he had been looking up information pertaining to Zeref. A mysterious blonde girl had been spotted with the same men who escorted Zeref around. She always wore incredibly expensive-looking attire and was at almost every social gathering of any rich, influential person in Fiore. Making connections—though somewhat far-fetched—Natsu had decided to do a little research on the blonde girl.

Through the facial recognition device programmed into every detective's work laptop, Natsu was able to identify her as Lucy Heartfilia; heiress to the Heartfilia Konzern in Acalypha. From what Natsu knew of the town Lucy grew up in, it was pretty close to Magnolia. But if she was a native to Acalypha, what was she doing with Zeref's men in various towns all over the kingdom? As he dug deeper, Natsu found out there was never a missing person report filed. Did her parents know she was roaming around the kingdom with men associated with the most dangerous and infamous criminal in all of Fiore?

It bewildered him, but when he looked at the clock on his desk he realized he was going to be late for the briefing if he didn't leave his office. Gathering up his notes, Natsu headed out the door with his coffee gripped tightly in his hand. As he walked down the hallway towards the meeting room, he noticed Gray was still in his office typing something up. Natsu caught his eye and Gray motioned for him to wait as he finished up his notes and scrambled for his things. Natsu took a gulp of the hot, tasty coffee while Gray hustled out of his room and walked across the room to stand with him.

"Good morning," Gray nodded, shuffling his files, papers, and notebooks as he and Natsu continued to the meeting room. Taking a good look at his friend, Gray noticed how lacking in stamina Natsu appeared to be. His heart dropped.

"Have you been sleeping, Natsu?" he asked, dead-panned.

"Huh?" he replied, still chugging his coffee.

"You know, sleep? The necessary human function we all do at the end of a long day?" Natsu sighed as he lowered his coffee cup.

"What are you getting at here, Gray?" he groaned.

"We're not even two weeks into the investigation and I can already tell you're not taking care of yourself."

"C'mon, Gray…" Natsu began.

"No, you're gonna listen to me!" Gray said, gripping Natsu's arm and yanking him back. "You're our  _leader_. You have to be an example for everyone else on this team. If you keep coming into work like this, Erza will start noticing and take over!" Natsu narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Gray, what are you not telling me?" he demanded. Gray huffed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Erza wanted me to keep it under wraps but I guess it's out now," he mumbled. "She wants me to keep a close eye on you. Apparently, she thinks we're good friends and she wants me to check in with her about how you're doing. She knew going into this putting you as the leader would be hard on you but she also knew you're the only person close enough to the case to possibly seal it up. She trusts you but she doesn't wanna have to be worried about you every day while we're doing this investigation. You get me?"

Natsu breathed deeply, contemplating everything Gray just confessed to him. He figured Erza would be watching him throughout the investigation. On other cases he was known for losing sleep or forgetting to eat because he got so wrapped up in bringing criminals to justice. He just wanted to make the kingdom a better place, where no little kid had to live even a short life of crime in order to get by.

"Yeah, I hear ya, Gray," Natsu replied. "I'm doing fine, though. Honest."

"Oh, really?" Gray challenged. "If I took that coffee away from you right now, would you be able to function for the rest of the day without a nap?" Natsu chuckled and shook his head.

"You're not that cruel," he joked. Gray smiled but placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder, looking at him again with concern.

"I'm serious, though, man. If I see you slipping, I gotta tell Erza or she'll have both our asses," he whispered. "Just take care of yourself. You're a full grown man, I'm sure you can do it." Natsu smirked and pushed Gray's hand off him.

"Shut up," he laughed.

"Gentlemen." At the sound of the Captain, Gray and Natsu stood ridged when they saw Erza leaning out of the meeting room with an expectant gaze. "Whenever it suits you both." The two friends hustled into the room, Gray taking a seat next to his partner Juvia and Natsu coming to stand in front of everyone.

"Good morning," he began, placing his folders and notepad down as well as his coffee cup. Everyone gave their greeting except for Gray who simply nodded in reply. "Today, as I'm sure you're all aware, will lead to the night when we infiltrate the docking of  _The Pegasus_. I can assure both of our leaders a lot of time and manpower has gone into the planning of this mission so I can assure you, there will be no errors." Natsu turned to Erza and Gildarts who were seated on his right in chairs.

"This shipment will most likely come into Hargeon by twelve-thirty or one o'clock in the morning. It seems like a very broad timeframe but it's the only guess we have since Zancrow doesn't seem to know much else. Once the docks close and the employees have gone home—that's at twelve-fifteen—we'll roll in and stake it out. We'll have to be quick. Zancrow also doesn't know when his faction leader will arrive with her men to unload the ship so getting our weapons and settling into our positions as fast as possible is key here. If we don't everything done in time, we run the risk of getting caught.

"Levy and Gajeel, were you able to find anything out about this ship we should know now?" Natsu asked, turning the spotlight on one of his individual teams.

"Well, if there's anything good, we certainly weren't able to find it," Gajeel muttered, leaning back in his chair and spinning it side to side. "There's hardly any tracking information on this damn boat and if a tracking or part number had to be entered, it was just some bullshit formality in order to get the ship in." Levy sighed as she spread out her formal findings.

"What Gajeel  _meant_  to say is that this ship basically doesn't exist. There are no records to arrivals or departures on any shipment schedules in all of Fiore. But what we can tell, from some security footage I was able to dig up, is that it's only docked for about twenty minutes," she explained. "May I, Natsu?" He nodded and gestured for Levy to take control of the computer which was still hooked up to the projector. After some clicks of a few buttons, Levy pulled up a grainy video from a dock in Oak Town. The time, date, and location were listed in big white letters at the bottom right corner of the video but since it was so dark, making things out proved difficult.

"This was the only evidence Gajeel and I found of  _The Pegasus_ docking anywhere in Fiore. This took place in Oak Town three months ago if the timing and dating are legit.  _The Pegasus_  came and went in twenty minutes and the people taking in the cargo only stayed an extra minute or two to pack all of it and get away. Once Zancrow's faction and its leader arrive as well as the ship, we'll have very limited time to strike," Levy concluded.

"Thank you, Detective McGarden," Natsu nodded. Levy nodded and headed back to her seat, blushing as Gajeel grinned at her and chuckled his strange laugh.

"Now, I have enlisted the help of half of the police officers in our department to join us on the stakeout tonight," Natsu began again. "I would like all of us to convene back here at midnight exactly and then we will arrive for at least twelve-fifteen by car. By that time, the dockworkers will have left and closed it down although I have gotten in touch owner of the docks and he'll leave the gates opened for us. However, once we arrive, it's critical we  _lock_ the gates after we've settled ourselves. Leaving them unlocked will create suspicion once Zancrow's faction and their leader get there. I'll leave Captain Scarlet in charge of that." Natsu paused and looked to Erza who nodded.

"For the rest of today, I suggest everyone do some simple desk work and that you all head home after lunch. It'll be a short workday since we'll be coming back for midnight. Get some sleep, eat, and prepare yourself. It won't be an easy stakeout. These people will put up a hell of a fight so I don't want anyone coming to this too groggy to hold a gun." Natsu found himself glancing at Gray who gave him a knowing look. Natsu narrowed his eyes in reply.

"Alright, I suppose that's enough torture this early in the morning," Erza said, standing up from her seat to come next to Natsu. "Are there any questions?" Erza and Natsu scanned the room but no one seemed confused. Tonight would be their first real strike against Zeref and Natsu couldn't deny his excitement. They could end up being the first detectives in Magnolia's history to bring the infamous Zeref Dragneel to justice, tonight being their first step.

"Excellent. You may all return to your work and please, as Natsu instructed, take it  _easy_  today. We need everyone on the top of their game tonight, understand?" Natsu's team nodded in reply and Erza smiled, gesturing for them to leave. As Natsu gathered up his things, he heard someone clear their throat. He turned around and saw Gildarts still sitting in the corner, obviously upset.

"Oh, Gildarts," Natsu smiled. "How've you been?" Gildarts smirked grimly and looked up at Natsu, his arms crossed over his chest.

"If you knew what was going on right now, you would already know the answer to that question," he grumbled. Natsu stared at Gildarts, confused.

"What do you mean? What's going on right now?" Gildarts sighed and stood up.

"They're reconsidering my position here at the department," he said.

"What?" Natsu asked, still not understanding what Gildarts was trying to say.

"Jesus, Natsu, I might be fired! Do I have to spell it out for you?!"

"Wait, what?! Why?! Why now?" Natsu demanded, shocked by the news. Gildarts sighed and rubbed his scruffy cheeks.

"Erza had to report what happened to Zancrow. Not only was he threatening to say something anyways, but she had to say something or risk her own position." Natsu's eyes widened. The last time he and his team saw Zancrow he was suffering from some pretty bad beatings. The conversation Gildarts and Erza were having before everyone entered Zancrow's cell must've been about what happened to their prisoner.

Gildarts had beaten Zancrow senseless in order to get information out him. And now he was suffering the repercussions.

"But…why would Erza rat you out like that?!" Gildarts rolled his eyes.

"Because she's the  _captain_ , Natsu. She can't just overlook something like that. It's inmate abuse and it's against the law. If Erza hadn't reported it to begin with, she would be in more trouble than me right now. And I don't blame her. I should've controlled myself." Gildarts muttered the last sentence to himself, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"But he wasn't cooperating. How else were we supposed to get anything out of him?"

"There are other,  _legal_  methods I could have used to get him to talk. I just decided my fists were the best way and now I'm suffering the repercussions."

"They can't fire you! You've put twenty years into this place and you've helped to close so many cases!" Gildarts shook his head.

"My record here as a law enforcer has nothing to do with it, Natsu. They have strict rules us officers and detectives need to follow. And besides, they're simply looking over the situation. It's not like they've made a decision yet," he said, trying to reassure Natsu. "At least that's what I try to tell myself." There was a pause before Natsu asked another question.

"Does Cana know?" Gildarts sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't wanna say anything to her unless I know more. Plus this case is so big I don't want this to distract her. And you know Cana. She'll go busting down everyone's door to try and change their minds," he said with a laugh.

"Then why tell me?" Again, Gildarts sighed

"You're the leader of this case and you have to learn to set an example. I can already tell just by looking ya haven't been sleeping." Natsu huffed in frustration. "Look, Natsu, you and me, we're a lot alike and we both tend to lose our tempers. I happened to and it might just cost me my job. I hope I haven't upset you too much with this, but control is something we  _both_  need to work on. You get what I'm saying?"

Natsu nodded and smiled. He had been aggravated hearing the same speech twice from two different people but he knew they meant well. No one wanted to see him fail or get hurt. As difficult as the case might get, Natsu knew he needed to take care of himself. His health was more important to everyone around him than any investigation.

"Anyways," Gildarts said, patting Natsu on the back, "I also wanted to tell you you've done good so far. I really think you might be the one to close this case for good." Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. "And I don't just say that to anyone." Leaving Natsu with a wink, Gildarts walked out of the meeting room and towards Erza's office.

Filled with a new sense of confidence and excitement, Natsu charged out the door and into his own post. Opening the first file in his pile, Natsu stared at the blurry picture of Lucy Heartfilia he had printed from one of the surveillance videos that captured her.

"Alright, Ms. Heartfilia," Natsu smiled to himself as he opened his computer. "What's your story?"

* * *

Lucy wandered around the girls' hall, trying to find Mirajane's room. Elfman had asked she bring her some new clothes and some birth control. When she had taken the extra supplies from the last truck of supplies, she hadn't gotten the chance to find Mirajane and give her the special things she'd put aside just for her. At last, she'd found Elfman in the common area and had him give her Mirajane's room number.

The rest of Zeref's girls had their own rooms to stay in. They weren't terrible but they also weren't very homey. There was no way for the occupants to decorate them or anything since nothing frivolous ever came in with the monthly shipments unless Lucy or Zeref requested them. But if she ever did, she would have to explain to him why she had given it away. It wasn't looked down upon by Zeref for Lucy to act as a mother for the other girls but she didn't see why he needed to know in the first place. She liked having a small sense of freedom.

Finally, after walking for what seemed like ages, Lucy came up to room fifty-seven. Holding Mirajane's things in a small plastic bag, Lucy knocked on the door silently at first, not wanting to wake the other girls. It was late afternoon but sometimes sleeping was the only relief anyone could get from the nightmare they were all living.

When it took too long for the door to open, Lucy knocked again a little more heavily. She heard footsteps on the other side, but when the person appeared in the threshold, it wasn't Mirajane. It was her sister, Lisanna.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" Lisanna gasped, curtsying. Lucy's cheeks turned bright red and shook her head.

"Please, don't do that!" she replied, gesturing wildly for Lisanna to straighten up.

"I'm sorry," Lisanna said, appearing frightened. She was worried she had upset Zeref's Queen.

"I'm not mad, I just don't like it when people do that unless I can't tell them to not do it," Lucy said awkwardly. "Can I come in?"

"Of course!" Lisanna said, a smile returning to her face. "It's nice to see a familiar face." Once Lucy had sat down on one of the beds, she placed the plastic bag on the other bed to her left. When Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman were recruited by Zeref's men, Lucy helped convince Zeref to let the two sisters stay in the same room together. Lisanna was the youngest of the three and with Mirajane being the oldest, she wanted to be close to her baby sister through everything. Lucy assumed everything she helped Mirajane take from the shipment, half went to Lisanna.

"Is Mirajane not here?" Lucy asked.

"Actually, she isn't. Were you looking for her? I'm not sure where she could be but I'm sure she'll be back soon," Lisanna answered, leaning against the wall. As Lucy got a better look at her, she noticed how skinny and pale Lisanna was. But in all fairness, pretty much all the girls were skinny. As long as they were healthy and could "perform," there was never any cause for worry. Lucy contemplated on whether or not she should wait for Mirajane to return but she didn't want Zeref to come searching for her.

"Thank you, but I think I should be getting back," Lucy said, standing again. She pointed to the bag on Mirajane's bed and Lisanna stared at it with wide eyes. "There's some extra birth control pills in there as well as some clothes. I only just got the chance to bring it to you and your sister. I'm sorry it took so long."

Suddenly, Lisanna bolted up from the wall and wrapped Lucy in a tight hug. She gave a small yelp in surprise. For someone so small, she could sure squeeze the life out of someone. Expecting the embrace to last only a minute, Lucy was stunned to hear Lisanna sniffle and feel her body quiver against hers.

"Thank you, Lucy," she sobbed. Overcome with an urge to cry with the girl, Lucy returned to hug and held on to Lisanna as if she would float away otherwise. Feeling Lucy's arms around her, Lisanna continued to cry but only for another minute. Having let out all the tears she dared to, she released Lucy and faced her with only pink cheeks and wet eyes as evidence of her breakdown.

"Thank you," she said again. Lucy smiled and headed towards the door.

On her way back to Zeref's room, Lucy felt her heart and stomach sink. The further she walked away from Mirajane and Lisanna's room, the more she wished she had stayed. Maybe they could have talked for a while, snagged a few drinks together and gotten drunk enough that they could smile and laugh like they weren't living in hell. The sadness hit her all at once and unexpectedly and she couldn't make it go away. She couldn't escape the misery and dread of living another day as Zeref's Queen or as a murderer. And what was she doing it for? Or, to be more precise,  _who_  was she doing it for?

 _Mother and father,_  she answered.

Unbeknownst to her at the time, the Heartfilia fortune had been suffering greatly when Lucy had turned sixteen. At that time, Zeref was still working his way up to the top but Jude had taken a large loan out from a former crime lord. Once Zeref took over, he met with Jude to collect the money he owed, knowing full well he didn't have it. Having played right into his hand, Zeref put a gun to Layla Heartfilia's head and demanded the money then and there or to hand Lucy over once she turned twenty-one.

Appalled and frightened for his wife's life, Jude tried to reason with Zeref: if he was willing to wait five years for Lucy to come of age, why couldn't he wait a few more months for the money. Of course, Zeref didn't give away his full plan. Lucy was leverage against Jude: Zeref wanted the entire Heartfilia fortune, not just the money Jude owed back. He would keep Lucy and slowly suck the life out of the Heartfilia name by threatening Lucy's life whenever Jude tried to back his way out of the deal.

But he still wanted the whole fortune. And the only way to that was with Lucy as his wife and with her parents dead.

However, when Lucy was told the details of all this the day she was taken by Zeref's men, she knew what she must do. She would play along as Zeref's personal sex slave and as an assassin but she made him promise to leave her parents alone until the day she said: "I do." Deep down she knew his word might be an empty promise, but then she gave her word that as long as her parents continued to live a long life she would still marry him. If he should kill him, she would resist him until he would eventually kill her and the family fortune would be lost forever.

If Lucy didn't hold up her end of the bargain, she knew her parents would meet their maker. And she wouldn't let that happen if she could help it.

Trapped in her thoughts, Lucy didn't even hear the telltale moans from outside Zeref's room. Opening the door and walking right in, she was stunned to see Mirajane on top of him, mid-hump.

"Oh god!" she exclaimed, stumbling to get out of the room. But she hadn't been quick enough. Zeref noticed her and pushed himself up on his elbows, Mirajane still straddling him.

"Lucy, my love, you're just in time!" he smiled, his eyes twinkling with lust.

"I'm so sorry, Zeref," Lucy stuttered, gripping the doorknob. "I'll just slip right out."

"No, no, don't be silly! Join us!" Locking eyes with Mirajane, Lucy saw how disgusted she was with Zeref. Now he was suggesting a threesome. Swallowing hard, Lucy stayed in front of the door to see if Zeref would change his mind.

"I don't want to ask again," he said, his tone stern. Releasing her grip on the door, Lucy realized her hand was shaking. Knowing there was no other way out of the situation, she slowly made her way up to bed, stripping along the way.

Turning on her sex appeal, Lucy batted her eyes and bared herself in front of Zeref and Mirajane who had carefully climbed off him. Already figuring out what he wanted, Lucy kneeled in front of Mirajane on the bed and kissed her lightly on the lips at first, flashing her a look that asked if she was okay with it. When she gave a slight nod in reply, Lucy pressed deeper into her, cupping her breasts. Opening one eye and narrowing it to Zeref, she saw him watching them intently, totally aroused.

Biting Mirajane's lip and pulling away from her, Lucy crawled her way towards Zeref. Mirajane followed suit and they both began kissing, licking, and sucking his body. Fortunately for both girls, Zeref made most of the noise and he kept his eyes closed so Lucy and Mirajane only had to pretend for short moments that they were enjoying any of it.

After what felt like hours, Zeref violently yanked Lucy and Mirajane off of him and threw them both down on the bed. He started with Mirajane by grabbing her breasts and humping her wildly, finishing off by pressing himself into her. Lucy was forced to watch the whole thing and saw how hard it was for Mirajane to fake her enjoyment. When he was done with her, he ripped himself out of Mirajane and hopped over to Lucy. She expected him to do it right away but he just stared at her for a moment as if he were thinking about something.

"Mirajane," he said, stroking Lucy's sides, "you may leave." Glad for the dismissal, Mirajane grabbed her skimpy, tattered dress and threw it over her as she hustled out of the room. When the door closed behind her, Zeref bent down and kissed Lucy hard, sticking his tongue down her throat. She wanted to gag but she returned his kiss by running her fingers through his hair and pulling him closer.

Then, he started into her, softly at first but going in harder and harder with each thrust. Fortunately, he closed his eyes and tilted his head up at the ceiling so Lucy could drop her facade. She kept her arms at her side and prayed it would be over as quickly as he had been with Mirajane, but she found out she was in no such luck. Zeref took his time, humping and pressing into her like he never wanted it to end. He squeezed breasts so hard she knew she would have his fingers embedded in her skin for days.

Finally, he thrusted himself even deeper into her than Lucy thought possible and moaned as his orgasm finished. Suddenly exhausted, he pulled out of her and fell on her left side, smiling.

"That was amazing," he whispered to her, twirling a piece of Lucy's hair as he stared at her with sleepy eyes. "You were amazing," he said, kissing her again. Lucy smiled and batted her eyes, waiting for him to fall asleep so she could slink into the bathroom and take a shower.

"You're not upset with me for screwing Mirajane, are you?" he asked, noting her silence.

"No, of course not," she replied. "I understand." Zeref smiled lethargically and kissed Lucy's cheek, rolling over to fall asleep.

As Lucy listened to Zeref's breathing become more steady, the tears she tried to contain gradually filled her eyes and fell down her face. Still naked, Lucy placed her cold, shaking hands on her throbbing, lower abdomen and raised her head to look at her breasts. Sure enough, there were five red marks splayed around her areolae. Eventually, the red marks would turn into full-fledged bruises and, though temporary, the bruises would still be blemishes she wouldn't be able to wash off.


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TO MY READERS: Hello, everyone! I'm back! I know it's been an ungodly amount of time since I uploaded a chapter to this story, but here is the latest installment! Although I do continue on uploading the rest of this story, I can't tell you guys when the next chapter will be up because I really don't have any sort of scheduling in mind. I can promise you guys, though, I am back and I will finish this story for all of you to read. Thank you to everyone who decided to stick around for this AU and, again, I do apologize for keeping you guys waiting for so long. I consider myself very lucky to have such great followers. Okay, enough of me! Here's the story! Enjoy!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN any of the characters or places included in this story. They all belong to the original creator, Hiro Mashima.

 

_** Six ** _

The beeping of the heart monitor at the side of Cana’s bed filled the silence in the hospital room. She had been admitted at two in the morning following the infiltration and, after having gotten a few hours of sleep, Natsu went right to the hospital to check up on her. When he arrived, Cana’s doctor had told Natsu the gunshot wound to her leg had been the most serious. Despite Natsu having wrapped his shirt around Cana’s shoulder wound, bacteria had still invaded the wound, but the leg was the worse. The bullet had gone right through and the exposed flesh had been submerged in the water for too long.

Cana was asleep now and on a lot of morphine. It was going to take time for the infections to clear up but, fortunately, Cana hadn’t broken any bones. The bullet in her shoulder had stopped just short of the ball-and-socket joint because it had ricocheted off the wall first and lost some of its momentum while the bullet to her leg missed her fibula by a hair. As Natsu continued to watch Cana breathe, he heard footsteps from behind him. He didn’t even have to turn around to know it was Gildarts.

“Morning, Natsu,” he said as he walked into the room. Natsu looked up and saw he was holding a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee. He hadn’t been in the room when Natsu arrived and the doctor told him they had to practically shove Gildarts out of the room to get him to eat and relax. He had been with Cana since Natsu carried her back to the docks and hadn’t left her side even though the doctor told him she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. He was probably completely wiped, but Natsu knew he wouldn’t leave his daughter’s side until she forced him to.

“Officer Clive,” Natsu replied. “How have you been?” Gildarts took a seat in the chair on the opposite side of Cana’s bed. He took a sip of the coffee and placed it, along with the untouched sandwich, on the small bureau next to him.

“Fine. I’m just hoping she’ll wake up soon,” he said, looking at his daughter now. Natsu’s stomach clenched with guilt. He looked down at his hands before speaking again.

“Gildarts, I just need to tell you how sorry I am,” he began. “I was in charge of the mission and I should’ve…”

“Stop it, Natsu,” Gildarts said sternly. Natsu’s head shot up.

“But, sir…”

“What happened to Cana could’ve happened to anybody. It could be you in this bed right now. Cana knows the risks that come with this job. Sure, it’ll slow her down for a while but she will never let it stop her. I’m not angry with you and I know Cana isn’t either. In fact, we’re both incredibly grateful to you. You saved her life. I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am.” Natsu stared at Gildarts in disbelief and saw tears shimmering in his eyes. Natsu smiled and nodded, feeling his body relax.

“I’d never leave anyone behind,” he said. Gildarts chuckled and sipped his coffee again.

“Well, I think you better get going. Captain Scarlet wants you all at the precinct to report the mess from this morning,” he said.

“Will you be alright alone?” Natsu asked.

“I’ve already called in reinforcements. I want this room protected twenty-four-seven until Cana gets outta here. Those minions of Zeref were sent to kill us. I’m not going to take any chances in leaving her alone while she’s recovering.” Natsu stood and glanced back at Cana.

“She’s going to be fine, Natsu,” Gildarts reassured him. “I’d say you’re even more worried about her than I am.” He chuckled and Natsu smiled, heading out the door.

Grabbing a taxi outside of the hospital, Natsu thought about the disaster waiting for him back at the office. The flop that was the infiltration would cost the investigation dearly. It was going to take everything his team had to think of another way to nab one of Zeref’s faction leaders. He also knew Erza was going to need to make a very persuasive argument to her higher-ups. It worried him thinking they might not get the approval they needed to try for another arrest.

Before he knew it, Natsu was back at the office, walking the long hallways into the meeting room where Erza and the rest of his team were. When he opened the door, he could tell right away something was incredibly wrong. Every single face that looked up at him as he entered appeared broken, tired, and defeated. His heart sank as he walked to the front of the room and saw Erza watching him with the same expression.

“Good morning, Detective Dragneel,” Erza said, her stern voice echoing a strength her face betrayed.

“Good morning Captain Scarlet,” he replied.

“I trust you just arrived from the hospital visiting our brave Detective Alberona,” she said, looking back out to his teammates.

“Yes,” he said. “She’s doing well, considering everything. The doctor’s still want to keep a close eye on her since her leg was exposed to the bacteria longer. Other than that, she seems to be in good health and will be recovering soon. Gild—Uh, Officer Clive is still with her and he’s requesting a few other officers to stay with her until she’s well. He doesn’t think it’s safe.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less of our honorable officer,” Erza agreed. “I’ll make sure I hand-pick the officers who will watch over Detective Alberona as she recovers. You have my word.” Natsu nodded and stood off to the side of the room, waiting for Erza to continue. He knew the rest of the conversation today was going to be bleak as hell, considering everyone’s morale.

“Now, as I’m sure all of you are well aware of, I had a meeting earlier this morning with my higher-ups. And, as you can probably imagine, it did not go well,” Erza said, letting out a sigh. She leaned against the table, shook her head, and looked back up at everyone, her usual all-business demeanor coming down.

“We all know what a complete failure last night’s infiltration went. We completely lost the ship and anything that could’ve been on it to use as a lead to find Zancrow’s faction leader, we weren’t able to take anyone in for questioning, and, worst of all, one of our own was injured in the crossfire,” she explained. “It was bad. Worse than bad. It was a complete and total shit show. And my higher-ups were… _less_ than pleased.” Natsu couldn’t help but hold his breath as Erza worked up the courage to share the news with everyone. She sighed again, standing up straight again with her leadership attitude, and crossed her arms. Even though her stature appeared strong, Natsu could see the defeat in her eyes.

“I am sorry to inform you that our investigation has officially been shut down until further notice,” she said. Immediately, every person in the room jumped from the seats and began shouting. Erza tried to gain control of the room, but she seemed so tired it was impossible for her to shut down the uproar.

“Quiet!” Natsu shouted, the word scraping against his throat as he forced his voice to rise above everyone else’s. Suddenly, all their eyes fell upon his, including Erza who seemed surprised at first, but eventually stepped to the side to give Natsu the spotlight.

“I’m sure it’s no surprise to all of you that I’m just as upset about this as you all are,” he began. “Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know this case about bringing my own brother to justice. And you all probably know how _infuriated_ I am about last night and the higher-up's decision. However, we all know we won’t stop. We still have Zancrow to give us information and I believe we’ve all forgotten about one special weapon we have in our back pockets. Makarov Dreyer.

“Sure, we might not be given official permission from Erza’s higher-ups to do anything, but we can still work to find leads and information. I’m not going to stop investigating just because of one stupid hiccup. I know we failed miserably, but we just have to brush ourselves off and prepare for the next fight! It’s as simple as that. And until we find something good, we’ll just have to be careful how we go about this. Keep quiet about any information you find unless you bring it to me or Captain Scarlet. And I’m sure Captain Scarlet hasn’t heard any of this and won’t have any idea what we’re planning on doing from here on out.” Natsu then turned to Erza who had a knowing smirk on her face. She simply nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Natsu alone with his team.

“Jellal, I would like you to continue doing your’s and Cana’s research on that store you both found a while ago,” Natsu said. “Hopefully, Cana will be up to visitors soon and you’ll be able to talk to her about it.” Jellal nodded.

“Gajeel and Levy, I want you both to try and find out more information about that decoy from last night. Try and see if Hargeon had any security camera footage we can use to identify it.”

“You got it,” Levy smiled.

“And, finally, Gray and Juvia, I want you two to focus on a young woman named Lucy Heartfilia. I was doing some research on the whereabouts of Zeref and some of his cronies and her face kept popping up. I want you both to do some serious digging on both her family and her possible connection with Zeref. I’ll also be helping you on this so I want you both to stop by my office to collect some of my notes,” Natsu explained.

“I thought Gray-sama and Juvia were going to try and find the missing girls,” Juvia asked.

“Yes, and I’d still like you to work on that if you can. But this Heartfilia girl has been seen in a lot of places all over the kingdom. I’m curious to know her association with Zeref. It just seems pretty strange to me that the heir to the Heartfilia fortune and Konzern is being seen with Zeref’s known cronies.”

“Whatever you need, boss,” Gray smirked, leaning back.

“Juvia just hopes searching for this particular woman doesn’t distract Gray-sama from the one who loves him most,” Juvia mused. Gray’s face immediately fell and he covered his reddening cheeks with his hands.

“Anyways,” Natsu continued, giving Gray a smug look, “I just also want to give you all a final note before you leave to begin your work.

“Last night wasn’t random. When Gildarts and I were talking, he was telling me he believes we’ve been found out by Zeref. Our investigation is no longer secret. I know no one in this office is untrustworthy, so I’m going to take a wild guess and say someone in Zancrow’s faction realized he’s gone missing and has informed his leader who brought the information to the attention of Zeref. If we continue with this investigation, we are now at risk. Zeref knows what’s going. I doubt he knows all of us by name, save for me, but we still need to be careful. No one outside of our team will know any of the details.”

“Do you think we’ll ever get this investigation back on track, Natsu?” Levy asked.

“We have to,” he answered. “We don’t have a choice. Zeref’s factions steal, kill, and create chaos. Even if we don’t have permission from Erza’s superiors, I won’t let this case be closed again. He poses too much of a threat to our kingdom. We are going to bring Zeref to justice, even if I lose my job in the process.”

“Natsu…” Gray started.

“I know it sounds like I’m obsessed,” he admitted, “but I have good reason to be. My brother is a dangerous and vengeful individual. He does what he pleases because he knows he won’t be caught. The MPD gave up years ago in trying to bring him and his followers in because he barely leaves any traces. And if we stop now, who knows how many years it will be before the case gets reopened again only to be closed again. We’re going to stop this cycle. And if we get caught, I promise to take all the blame.”

“We won’t let you do that, Natsu,” Gray said.

“I’m the leader of this mission. If I make a decision that gets us into trouble with the higher-ups, then there’s no one to blame but me. That is, as long as you are all willing to continue this fight.” Natsu glanced around at his friends in the room. They exchanged looks to one another and then all turned to him, smiling.

“You’d have to be an even denser idiot than you already are to think we won’t continue this mission with you,” Gray smirked. Natsu smiled and nodded.

“I don’t know what I would do without all of you,” he said.

“Let’s not get into specifics,” Gray said, coming to Natsu’s side and patting him on the back. “Juvia and I will get started on our assignment.”

“As will Gajeel and I,” Levy piped up.

“Thank you all, for everything you do,” Natsu said. “Now, let’s get to work.”

 

********

 

For once, Lucy and Zeref weren’t in his room for the sole purpose of having sex. The lights had been turned up all the way, so the soft, sultry red glow of the room was lost to the brightness. Lucy sat in front of Zeref’s large oakwood desk straight and tall, waiting for information on her next assignment. Zeref sat behind the desk, flipping through papers he normally kept locked away in the drawers. Though she knew these assignments usually ended in killing someone, Lucy always looked forward to being out from underneath Zeref’s thumb.

“Here it is,” Zeref finally announced, pulling forth a sheet of paper from the pile. “This is the man you need to visit in a week’s time.” Lucy took the paper from him and looked at the picture on the top.

The man photographed looked to be quite old and not at all attractive and Lucy already hated the idea of having to seduce him. He had thick, ridiculous looking eyebrows over his very tiny eyes and his thin lips, when brought into a smile, made it seem like he had eaten something sour.

“That is Count Balsamico, one of my oldest and most trusted suppliers,” Zeref began. “He helps to bring in weapons to us and, in return, I give a fourth of my earnings and protection for his family. A few days ago, one of my men heard he was planning on meeting with me to discuss his retirement from, not just his business, but also from his association with me. As you can probably imagine, his retiring just won’t do unless he wants to lose everything, including his own life. And I need my best girl to deliver that message to him.” Lucy looked up from the information on the paper to see Zeref smiling evilly.

“Alright,” she replied, ignoring the goosebumps popping up on her skin from his look. “Where do you want this done?” Zeref stood and began pacing around the desk.

“Balsamico’s only daughter, Aceto, is having her engagement party a week from today, next Friday. She marrying Velveno who, if I may add, is quite the dog. But, I suppose love is blind,” he said with a chuckle. “Anyways, though he knows my identity is to be kept a secret and I’m to remain hidden from the public eye, Balsamico always makes it a point to invite me to every one of his parties. I’m going to give the invitation to you and you will tell him I sent you to give him and his daughter my blessing.” Zeref rolled his eyes at that.

“Once the party gets into full swing, I want you to seduce Balsamico into one of the guest rooms he has on the floor above his ballroom and explain to him I will not accept his request to retire. Make sure he understands everything that that implies.”

“Of course,” Lucy replied. Zeref continued to pace until he came up behind her while she continued reading the paper. Stupidly, she had completely let her guard down as she read the information and found herself jumping and yelping in surprise as Zeref placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, love,” he said, licking her earlobe. “Did I frighten you?” Lucy’s mouth suddenly turned dry and it took her a moment before she could speak.

“Just a little,” she said in the best sultry voice she could muster.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “You just drive me up a fucking wall.” He leaned further in and kissed her cheek. His hands wandered down, stroking the sides of Lucy’s breasts and traveling down to her hips where his fingers toyed with the tops of her leggings.

“I want you,” he whispered. “Right now.” Lucy tightly squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She then turned around in her chair, bringing up her knees to sit on and leaning towards Zeref.

“Then take me,” she said, batting her eyes. As she was led to Zeref’s bed, Lucy tried to ignore her crawling skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Don't forget to leave a review!! I love hearing from you guys and it's always really nice to get feedback on what you thought of the chapter.


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, unfortunately, school is back in session which means my upload schedule is going to get erratic again... I'm really going to try hard to keep writing chapters for you guys and getting them out to you, so please just bear with me! I promise it'll be worth it as this story goes on. Anyways, please enjoy this new chapter and pray for the next one to come out soon! I'll need all the prayers I can get right now!

_**Seven** _

The next morning was Saturday, which meant a day off for Natsu and his colleagues. While anyone else would've been glad for the day off, Natsu felt like he was going to lose his mind. Before the day ended yesterday, Erza told Natsu and his team they weren't to step one foot into the office over the weekend.

"You all deserve a short break, if only two days," she said. "I want you all to try your best to relax." At that, she gave a stern look to Natsu who sighed, shook his head, and crossed his arms.

"That applies to you as well, Detective Dragneel," she said pointedly. Natsu raised his right hand and promised everyone in attendance he wouldn't look at the case for the entire weekend.

Now, at seven-thirty in the morning, Natsu was already feeling anxious. He made himself a cup of coffee and sat in his apartment's living room in front of the flatscreen, mindlessly flipping through channels to find something to distract himself. While he sipped his hot coffee, his oddly colored blue cat, Happy, jumped up on the couch and snuggled up next to him, purring as Natsu stroked his back.

"Well, at least I get to spend the weekend with you," he smiled, scratching the top of Happy's head.

It didn't take long for Natsu to find a fairly interesting show to watch, but as interested as he might've been in it, his mind kept drifting to all the work he and his friends still had to do. Juvia and Gray were to start looking into details about Lucy Heartfilia and her family's affiliation with Zeref; Levy and Gajeel had to get more information on  _The Pegasus_ , it's decoy, and where they both ended up going after the raid; and Jellal was to pick up where he and Cana left off when investigating the potential hideout for Zancrow's faction. There seemed to be so much that needed to get done and here was Natsu,  _relaxing_  on a Saturday morning at home. He sighed and threw his head against the back of the couch.

"Everyone else is probably having a nice, relaxing day," he whispered to himself. "You should do your best, too. You're the leader and you need to set a better example for them."

After a few more minutes sitting in front of the television and focusing way too much on what was going on in the show, Natsu rose frustratedly from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Happy jumped down and followed his master, his little paws padding gently on the hardwood floors.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Natsu said, innocently pouring himself another cup of coffee. He looked back at the cat, his tail twitching slightly and his little face contorting in what Natsu thought seemed to be an accusatory look.

"Hey, when I make a promise, I keep it. Don't I?" Natsu asked him, sipping his coffee. Happy's response was only a twitch of his tail.

"I'm not going anywhere today," Natsu said a little more agitatedly. "I wish you would stop looking at me like that!" As if realizing how upset his master was getting, Happy turned and trotted away towards the door of the apartment, behind the kitchen's granite island. He stared down the hallway at the door, his tail perking up again but instead of just twitching, it started thrashing around.

"What is it, Happy?" In reply, the cat meowed.

Natsu immediately went into his detective mindset and gently placed his coffee down on the counter, taking care not to make any sound as he did. He moved slowly and quietly through his apartment and towards the large decorative wooden chest in the middle of his living room. Underneath it was a gun. All he had to do was grab it…

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. Natsu silently cursed to himself but continued moving to the chest.

"I'll be right there," he called back out. Just when he grabbed the gun underneath the chest, the person behind the door knocked again.

"Hold on!" Natsu shouted again. Finally releasing the gun from its holder, Natsu moved a little faster to the door, taking the safety off and holding the gun behind his back. Another knock shook the door as he got closer.

"I'm coming!" Natsu shouted again. He turned to Happy who meowed again, his tail swaying more rapidly now. Natsu raised a finger to his lips and Happy was smart enough to take the hint and bound for the living room. One more knock bounded on the door as Natsu took the doorknob in his hands. Quickly, he turned it, swung the door open, and raised the gun at the uninvited guest.

"Whoa, whoa!" The visitor shouted, jumping back with his hands in the air. Natsu sighed, heavily, lowering the gun as he stared at Gray.

"Holy shit, Gray! You couldn't've said it was you at the door?! I thought it was one of Zeref's cronies come to kill me!" he shouted, turning around to go back into the apartment. Gray followed him and closed the door behind him, locking it all three ways.

"Sorry," Gray replied, walking into the living room. "I didn't think you'd greet me with a gun to my face." Natsu walked past him into the kitchen again with his coffee and grabbed a mug for his friend.

"Can't be too cautious," he said. "Where's Juvia? I didn't think there was any time when you two weren't attached at the hip." While Natsu got a good laugh out of that, Gray's cheeks reddened, embarrassed.

"It's not like that!" he shouted back.

"Sure it's not," Natsu said, rolling his eyes as he poured Gray's coffee. "It's not like you two  _live_  together or anything." Gray's face continued to get redder.

"She was having trouble finding a cheap place and I had the extra room..." he said feebly. Natsu shrugged his shoulders as he handed Gray his coffee.

"Hey, man, it's not my place to judge. Plus, I think what you and Juvia have is nice. You're never alone," he said, handing Gray the steaming mug & sipping his own. Gray remained quiet as his drank and his face started turning a normal color.

"So, what's up? Must be important since you're visiting me on our required day off," Natsu said, heading to the living room and sitting on the couch. Gray went and sat down in one of the love seats to the left of the couch, balancing the mug on his thighs.

"Yeah, about that... I couldn't get on the whole 'two days to relax' thing. I've just been thinking about the case all day and it was driving me crazy. So...I did some digging on our secret informant." Natsu stared at Gray in shock. He couldn't believe his friend had lost control quicker than he did and went ahead with the investigation. Gray always presented himself as even-tempered, someone to follow orders, not break them.

"And you're here because...?" Natsu asked once he got over his shock. Gray finished drinking and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Because,  _Squad Leader_ , I figured you'd like to accompany me to visit our secret informant," Gray said in an aggravated tone.

"You've already talked to Makarov Dreyer?" Natsu asked, astonished. Gray really wasn't kidding when he said he couldn't take these two days off.

"Well, his grandson," Gray said, drinking more of his coffee. "His name is Laxus Dreyer. At sixty-five, Makarov got really sick and was forced to retire. He was a huge smoker and it got a little out of control while he was working on the Zeref case. He was diagnosed with lung cancer, stage three. He was in the hospital for a long time while he was getting treated. Eventually, the cancer started shrinking before it completely disappeared. He was allowed to go home and was living normally for about a year.

"Then he ended up going back to the hospital, complaining of excruciating pain in his ribs. It turns out the cancer came back, and with a vengeance. He now has stage three bone cancer at seventy. Given his age and the aggressive treatment, he's not expected to live very long. He was offered hospice care, but denied it and opted to stay home. His grandson takes care of him now at Makarov's apartment in the heart of Magnolia." Natsu was quiet for a while as he took in all the information.

"How'd you find all this out?" he finally asked.

"After I talked to Laxus, I decided to do some digging. Turns out the office had all the information already, it was just a matter of finding it in their system. I figured we'd need to know the basics about him before visiting. And, if I'm being honest, we don't have a lot of time before he…well, you know." Gray didn't need to finish his sentence. If Natsu and his team really wanted to use Makarov in their new investigation, they'd have to do so keeping in mind his life expectancy was fairly short.

"So, what do you say, Natsu?" Gray asked, placing his empty mug on the chest. Natsu quietly sipped his own until it was finished and looked at his friend with a knowing smile.

"I think Erza will be pretty pissed if she finds out what we did this weekend," he said. "But, with all things considered, I don't think it would hurt to pay Makarov and his grandson a visit. Especially since they're now expecting us." Gray smiled and stood up.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Go get dressed and I'll drive," he said.

* * *

It took Natsu and Gray only fifteen minutes to get to Makarov's townhouse which looked like a miniature size Victorian mansion squeezed between two other townhouses. The entirety of the house was painted a dark grey with matching stairs leading up to a dark-wood door. Two large bay windows indicated the building only had two floors but, despite the fact of Makarov's illness, the house looked like it was being taken care of.

"Pretty nice house," Gray said, slamming his door and coming up beside Natsu on the sidewalk. The two men walked up the stairs and stood in front of the door, noting a metal mailbox to the right overflowing with letters. Most of them appeared to be from the city's hospital.

"Doesn't seem like he's been keeping up with the bills," Natsu pointed out.

"Chemotherapy's gotta be expensive, especially considering how much he probably needs," Gray said. While Natsu continued to stare at the mailbox, Gray used the dark brown door knocker to announce their presence.

"Just a minute!" a deep voice answered. Gray and Natsu backed up a little and waited until the door opened to reveal a burly, blond-haired man standing in the foyer. He wore a pair of paint-stained jeans and a black work shirt which undoubtedly had seen better days.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen," the man said, wiping his hands on a dirty washcloth. "We're not interested in anything you're selling."

"Wait, wait!" Gray said, stopping the man from closing the door with his hand. "I'm sorry, my name is Gray Fullbuster. We spoke on the phone earlier today about visiting Makarov Dreyer. We're detectives from the MPD."

"Oh, sorry, fellas," the man said, laughing and stuffing the washcloth into the pocket of his jeans. "You wouldn't believe how many people have tried selling us insurance lately. It's nice to meet you." The man reached out and shook Gray's hand, turning to Natsu.

"Hi. I'm Natsu Dragneel, the lead detective on the case," he said, shaking the man's hand. "And you must be…?"

"Laxus, his grandson," he replied, his eyes narrowing to Natsu. "Dragneel… Why do I know that name?"

"Because I happen to be Zeref Dragneel's reformed brother," Natsu said. Laxus's eyes widened in understanding and he stepped aside to let Natsu and Gray through.

"Oh. Well, come on in, guys," he said. Gray and Natsu walked into the dimly lit foyer, a case of stairs leading to the second floor at the end of the short hallway.

"I have to admit, I was surprised to hear they were opening the case again," Laxus said, closing the door and leading the men to the living room on the left of the stairs. "Someone even contacted my gramps the day the investigation started. Said they might have some of the detectives come to question him." Laxus paused in front of a pair of dark-wooded slider doors, lowering his head and sighing. He turned to Natsu and Gray.

"I'd like to ask you to keep the conversation as short as possible," he said. "He's taken a turn for the worse. The pain has gotten exceptionally worse and he's on so many painkillers he can only stay conscious for a short period of time. I haven't given him anything too heavy yet but he'll likely need it in another few minutes. I'm guessing you'll have about ten minutes before he falls asleep after that."

"The doctors," Natsu said. "How long do they think he has." Laxus sighed again.

"Only about a month or so. He's too weak to even go to his chemotherapy appointments and I've moved him into the living room so I can get to him faster when he needs medication or food. Like I said: just keep it brief. There's always tomorrow." Gray and Natsu nodded and Laxus turned to open the slider doors.

The room reeked of disinfectant, like an actual hospital, and despite how nice the rest of the house looked, the living room was a mess. Piles of books were scattered throughout the room as well as dirty dishes and glasses. Papers and files were also scattered across the floors, some of them simply crumbled into balls like forgotten thoughts; useless. To the left of the entrance was a long hospital bed pushed up right against the window looking out on the street. In the bed was a small, old man who already looked like a ghost. His eyes were sullen in his skull and he had large dark circles underneath them. His skin was extremely pale and it looked stretched and taut across his bones. Natsu's heart clenched as he, Gray, and Laxus approached Makarov: he felt like they were being disrespectful just by disturbing this poor, sick man.

"Gramps, these are the detectives I told you who were going to be visiting today," Laxus said, walking to the side of Makarov's bed.

"Hello, gentlemen," Makarov said in a raspy voice. "I hate you have to see me in such a miserable state, but I suppose there's no avoiding it at this time."

"How are you feeling, sir?" Natsu asked. Makarov laughed which turned into a long, painful sounding cough.

"I've certainly felt better in the past but I'd like to help you with your investigation as much as I can. No morphine for now, Laxus," he said, patting his grandson's hand who wore a worried expression.

"We promise this won't take long, sir," Gray said, coming closer and crossing his arms. "We just have a couple questions about Zeref and the location of his base. Or even the base established here in Magnolia." Makarov tapped Laxus's hand and pointed to a stack of files on a bookshelf against the back wall, stuffed with books and papers.

"When I heard the MPD was reopening the case, I can't tell you how happy I was. Just to hear a new generation of detectives would have a shot at capturing this monster was enough to get me to going again," Makarov explained. Laxus stood in front of Gray and Natsu again, handing them a small pile of files.

"Since I'm pretty much bed-ridden, I asked Laxus here to go and grab my old case files I saved after I retired. Hopefully, everything you and your team might need is there," Makarov said. Natsu took the files from Laxus and opened the top one, a man's picture staring back at him on the first piece of paper in the folder. Gray took the rest as Natsu flipped through the papers, noting the mugshots on the top left corners. Paperclips kept the stacks together, each one containing about five or more sheets. As Natsu continued skimming the file, he noticed one of the stacks had a newspaper clipping stapled to it, featuring an odd-looking man dressed very extravagantly. His interest piqued, Natsu slipped the stack out of the folder and looked at the mugshot with a name in bold on the top middle part of the paper: MACBETH.

"Who's Macbeth?" Natsu asked.

"He was a member of the Magnolia faction back when I started the investigation," Makarov said. "He was the only solid source we had to interrogate, but he was almost impossible to crack." Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"Almost?" he asked. Makarov grimaced.

"My partner, Porlyusica, and I went off the books to do it, but after months of getting nothing but lip from him, we decided Macbeth needed more… _persuasion_. We used methods of interrogation the MPD frown upon. Things that both Porlyusica and I regret, even to this day," he explained.

"But why? He was part of Zeref's factions and he probably did a lot worse," Natsu said. Makarov glanced at him sternly.

"That kind of thinking, son, is exactly what got the investigation shut down in the first place," he said. "I used to believe the same thing. Porlyusica tried to talk me out of it back then but I didn't listen. I knew I was going to have to retire soon but I couldn't leave the force knowing one of the most powerful criminals in the kingdom was still loose. I was willing to go to any lengths to destroy what Zeref had spent his whole life creating. But, once the higher-ups found out what Porlyusica and I were doing, the case was shut down and we were given only simple paperwork to file until we both were to retire." Natsu's eyes widened in shock.

"I thought the investigation was closed because there was no solid evidence to go on," Gray said. Makarov shook his head.

"That's the official reason. I was considered unfit to run it after Macbeth's…accident." Gray and Natsu exchanged glances and looked back to Makarov.

"Accident?" they asked in unison. Makarov sighed.

"I took it too far one day and Macbeth suffered from internal bleeding. He didn't receive the medical attention quickly enough so, by the time the doctors took him into surgery, he slipped into a coma. As far as I know, he's still there but completely incapacitated.

"I was lucky I wasn't fired. I didn't even  _think_  of fighting with the officials about my position. I knew what I did was wrong and I was willing to accept all the consequences that followed. Instead, I simply put to work doing filing, along with Porlyusica who also admitted to helping me during that time." Makarov was silent for a while as Natsu suddenly remembered something.

_That's why Erza was so defensive about what happened to Zancrow when he gave us the details on_ The Pegasus _. She didn't want what Gildarts did to Zancrow to get the investigation shut down again_.

"Anyways," Makarov continued, "if there was anything we were able to get out of Zancrow during that time was a strange and ridiculous riddle. He told us it was the key but we had to be 'smart enough to figure it out'." Makarov shook his head, his frail hand clenching into a fist. "I remember how badly I wanted to clock him in the head for that comment. But we needed him conscious, so I had held back the urges."

Just as Makarov was about to say more, he groaned and slammed his head back in pain. Laxus immediately bolted out of the living room and returned a minute later with a bottle of pills and a glass of water. He quickly took out two white pills and handed them to Makarov who threw them into his mouth and chase them with the water.

"What the matter?" Natsu asked worriedly as Makarov continued to groan in pain.

"He's in pain," Laxus said impatiently. "I just gave him two morphine pills so you'll only have another minute before he goes under. Finish fast." Natsu raced to Makarov's side and grabbed the bars on the hospital bed.

"Detective Dreyer," he said as fast as he could, "what was the riddle Macbeth gave you. Please, we need to know. It could be a breakthrough." Natsu wasn't even sure if Makarov had heard him. He shook his head and his hands clenched the bedsheets as the pain rippled through his body. Suddenly, the warmth of the morphine flushed through him and as the pain began to loosen its grip, his mind became hazy.

"Detective Dreyer," Natsu called again, praying he could get through to the man. "Please!"

"That's enough! He needs to rest now," Laxus reprimanded. Makarov turned to Natsu and gripped his hand, staring at him with glassy eyes.

"Tall and penetrating… They loom like…guardians," he began, struggling to make his tongue form the words before he went under. "Good or evil, they hide it…all away… Cloaked in darkness, hidden from the world…viridescent…" After the final word managed to escape his lips, Makarov could no longer resist the pull of sleep and he allowed his eyelids to close.

"Did you get that?" Natsu asked, snapping to Gray who was scribbling the riddle in his notepad.

"'Cloaked in darkness, hidden from the world, viridescent.' Yeah, I got it, but it doesn't make any fucking sense," Gray replied. He looked to Laxus. "Would we be able to come back tomorrow to get clarification on this?"

"I have a nurse coming in to check on him. I'll have to wait until she gets here and until she leaves to give him his medication and he'll be wiped by then anyway," Laxus said.

"And we have to be back at the office on Monday," Natsu sighed, standing. "Well, we'll take what we have and see if it really means anything. Thank you so much for your time, Laxus. And when your grandfather wakes up, tell him just how important his information has been to us. We'll see ourselves out." Gray and Natsu gathered the information Makarov had given them and headed towards the door of the living room.

"I've heard that before…" Laxus mumbled to himself as Gray and Natsu headed to the front door.

"What was that?" Natsu asked.

"Gramps sometimes mumbles parts of that riddle after I give him the morphine," Laxus clarified. "I know it sounds confusing, but that's the stupid riddle Macbeth gave him. The one you have to be 'smart enough to figure out'!"

"Then hopefully someone on our team will know what the hell it means," Gray mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Don't forget to leave a review!!


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back! After five long months, I'm finally back with brand new chapters! I'm so happy to be writing this story for you guys again and I can't wait for you all to read this newest installment. I know it might be a little shorter than usual but I didn't want to put too much in this newest update. Hopefully, by either next week or the week after I'll have the next one up for you which will definitely get the ball rolling. I really do appreciate all of you for sticking it out and to the people who have just recently favorited the story or followed me. You all are the reason I'm still writing this stuff and I can't thank you enough. Okay, enough ranting... Here is the eighth chapter in this story! Enjoy!

_**Eight** _

  
Monday morning couldn't have come fast enough for Natsu. Even after he and Gray were finally able to visit Makarov, the haunting riddle he had given them both before he was knocked out left them scratching their heads. And neither of them wanted to bring it up to Erza for fear of repercussions. So, there was Natsu, sitting in his office, writing and rewriting the riddle on one of his notepads over and over again. He made small notes in the margins and scribbled think, inky lines under specific words of the riddle, driving himself mad trying to make sense of everything.

A sudden knock on the door to his office redirected Natsu's attention. Nervously, he threw the notepad in a nearby draw, worried it would be Erza or one of his other teammates who couldn't know about his and Gray's impromptu trip to Makarov's home. Shakily closing the draw quietly, Natsu lounged in his chair and attempted to seem casual.

"Come in," he called out. Thankfully, it was Gray who opened the door and strolled into the office. He held a file under his arm and closed the door behind him.

"Morning, Detective Dragneel," he said, walking towards a chair in front of Natsu's desk.

"Morning, Fullbuster," he replied, sitting up and reaching out for the file. "Got something for me to look over?"

"In fact I do," Gray replied. He pulled the file out and handed it over to Natsu who opened it up to find a picture of Lucy Heartfilia.

"Turns out we weren't the only ones disobeying the Captain's orders this weekend," he said with a smirk. "Juvia did some more digging and found out as much as she could about this Lucy Heartfilia and her family. She even got an address for their estate. It's called the Heartfilia Konzern and it's only a little ways out from Magnolia so maybe we could plan a visit to dear old mom and dad this week." Natsu raised his eyes.

"Wow. Juvia sure did a lot while we were away," he said, flipping turning over the two pages inside the file. Coming back to the first, Natsu couldn't help but stare at the picture Juvia found of the girl. Lucy Heartfilia was, in one word, breathtaking. Her long blonde hair was slightly curled in the photo and her gaze was so intense, it was almost as if she was staring right into Natsu's very soul. Her deep brown eyes seemed sad and empty, though, despite their fierceness. He could only wonder what made her so unhappy.

"Well, we'll definitely have to bring this to the Captain," Natsu said, closing the file. At that moment, he expected Gray to leave but he was still sitting, waiting.

"Is there something else, Gray?" he asked.

"What happened to all the files Makarov gave to us on Saturday?"

"I still have them in my apartment. Why?"

"I think you should bring them in so we could look them over. There could be something in there that could help us." Natsu leaned back in his chair.

"I already started looking and, so far, there isn't much. Most of it is about Macbeth who's dead so he won't be of much use and the rest are various notes, dates, and locations of past missions," he sighed.

"Maybe having a second pair of eyes would help," Gray suggested. Natsu shook his head.

"Bringing those files in would be too risky. What if Erza finds them?"

"You know, sometimes it's hard to believe you're our leader in this mission," Gray chuckled.

"If the Captain stops you, just say they're your notes." Natsu bristled slightly at his friend's low blow but kept his temper under control.

"Fine, smartass. I'll bring everything in tomorrow. For now, I'll go to Erza about the Heartfilia family. And maybe even Zancrow will know a thing or two about her," he said. At that, Gray stood from the chair and turned to leave. However, he stopped a few feet from the door and turned his head to Natsu.

"One more thing," he said. "Have you been able to crack that riddle yet?" Natsu sighed heavily and pulled out his notepad. He had already used up four pages from rewriting the damn thing so many times and the ink was bleeding through onto the other pages.

"This damn puzzle's got me going up the wall, Gray," he said, tossing the notepad with a thud on his desk. "I can only imagine how hard it must've been for Makarov."

"Yeah, same here," Gray admitted frustratedly. "You know, maybe at some point, we should just tell Erza and the rest of the team about our visit to Makarov. If anyone would be able to help us out with this, it would be Levy." Natsu mulled the thought over for a bit before answering.

"Maybe you're right," he said. "But I want to wait until we have something more."

"Agreed," Gray nodded. "Well, until then, just remember the files for tomorrow. We can over them then."

"Will do," Natsu replied, waving his friend out the door. Once Gray had left, Natsu opened the filed on Lucy Heartfilia again. There really wasn't much in Juvia's report, except her birthday and other details that could've been easily pulled from the Police Department's database. The second page mentioned when she first started showing up with Zeref's men around Fiore. Juvia mentioned it was only an estimation, but she guessed Lucy had been working for Zeref since she was twenty-one. According to her birthdate, she would be about twenty-three now.

Two years she's been working with Zeref. But why no missing person report?

Tired of only coming up with more questions than answers, Natsu stood from his desk and grabbed the file. Hopefully, Erza would be able to give him, Gray, and Juvia permission to travel to the Heartfilia Konzern at some point that week.

Hopefully, it wouldn't just lead to another dead end.

* * *

Lucy drank furiously from her water bottle during her break from training. She ripped off her gloves and used her towel to dry off her sweaty forehead and hands. Elfman stood beside the boxing dummy, his eyebrows raised.

"Wow," he said, watching Lucy with concern. "You seem…stressed." Lucy let out a bitter laugh at that.

"I think that's the understatement of the year," she said, taking another swig of her water.

Zeref was away on "business," leaving Lucy completely to herself which hadn't happened in a long time. Grateful for his absence, Lucy decided to get back to her training. She normally didn't have much time to do it when Zeref was around seeing as she was only used as his personal plaything or assassin. But whenever he disappeared, she liked to take advantage by training with Elfman. It was an incredible stress-reliever and everything she learned always came in hand while on a mission. However, because she could never really be consistent, her stamina varied from session to session and a lot of the time, she found herself winded.

"I'm also pretty impressed," Elfman said as Lucy continued to drink the last of her water. He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with kindness. "You've become quite the man." Lucy rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Thank you, Elfman," she replied, patting his hand before he let go. "I would never have been able to learn any of this without you."

"It's the least I could do," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Especially after everything you've done for my sisters. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

Though Lucy knew he meant well by mentioning Mirajane and Lisanna, her mind instinctively went to that horrible night when Zeref forced her and Mirajane to partake in a threesome. Lucy and Mirajane were very close—being forced sex slaves and assassins really bring people together—but after everything Zeref did to both of them, and what he made them do with each other, it still made Lucy's skin crawl.

She hadn't even seen Mirajane since that night and she was afraid something in their friendship might've changed. She wasn't sure she could bear losing someone as important to her as Mirajane to Zeref. It would just be something else he would've taken from her. Mirajane and Lisanna were the only girls in the entire compound that didn't look at her strangely. The only two girls who actually cared about her and appreciated everything she did to try and make their lives less miserable while they were all trapped under Zeref.

Lucy's eyes began to brim with tears at the thought of being left utterly alone with only Zeref. It was a pain she didn't ever want to imagine.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, Lucy!" Elfman stammered, noticing Lucy was on the verge of crying. "I didn't mean to upset you!" Lucy sniffled and shook her head.

"No, you didn't upset me, Elfman," she said, wiping away the water from her eyes. "I just—sometimes it's a lot…"

Suddenly, Lucy felt a rush of anger and sadness swirl around inside her. She was no longer tired from the boxing she had just done earlier and she now had a new surge of energy running through her body. She hastily strapped her gloves back on, not even minding how tight they were, and began her boxing again. She threw jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts, front kicks, side kicks, and a strong back kick that knocked the heavy dummy right to the floor.

Just as soon as the rush went through her, Lucy's left leg crumpled out from underneath her before she could even stand up straight from the back kick. She tumbled down to the floor, her kneeing crashing hard on the mat. She let out a howl of pain that brought Elfman sliding next to her.

"Lucy!" he shouted, staring at her left knee as she cupped her leg and rocked back and forth. "What happened?" Through the sweat dripping into her eyes and the new tears brimming from the pain, Lucy could only focus on the awful nausea she felt as the pain slowly began to leave her body. She knew the fall wasn't serious enough to have broken her leg, but it would leave a nice bruise.

Nonetheless, she found herself giving into the pain, fear, and anger she felt and she started wailing at the top of her lungs. She continued to rock with her injured leg pressed up against her chest, but it wasn't because her knee hurt. It was a sort of soothing motion. Yet she still cried.

Not knowing what to do, Elfman just sat in front of Lucy and watched as she cried and rocked herself forward and backward. Though the fall must've hurt, he had a feeling it wasn't just her knee that was bothering Lucy. After a few minutes, she stopped rocking, her leg slide down, and she brought up her sweaty gloved hands to her face as the tears continued to fall. Unsure of what else to do, Elfman crept closer and took her in his large arms, holding her as tightly as he dared without scaring her.

Glad to have someone there to comfort her, Lucy let go of her legs and gripped to Elfman's shirt as if she were clinging for dear life. Eventually, her wailing turned to soft sobs which turned to sniffling. Then, she fell quiet, simply enjoying the feel of a friend holding her close.

Little did Lucy know that Elfman's face had become wet with his own tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Don't forget to leave a review on my newest chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

_**Five** _

"Team Blue, Team Pink is in position. Do you copy?" Natsu whispered into the walkie talkie gripped in his hand.

"This is Team Blue. We are in position. Copy," Gray's voice replied over the device. Laying on his stomach on the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the docks, Natsu turned to his right where Erza also lay, waiting to check in on Gajeel's team.

"Team Black, Team Pink, and Blue are in position. What is your status?" she spoke into the speaker.

"Team Black is armed and ready, captain. Just awaiting the signal," Gajeel said. Erza looked back to Natsu who nodded and stared out on the dark waters just a few feet in front of them.

Tonight was the night. Tonight, Natsu and his colleagues would make the first break in an age-old case. They would capture Zancrow’s faction leader, force her to talk, and eventually find out where Zeref was operating. Natsu had to contain his excitement. He couldn't believe how big this would be!

As of five minutes ago—and with the confirmation of each team just a few moments ago--everything was set. When Natsu and everyone involved in the infiltration arrived on the scene, the gates led to a building in the middle that overlooked the docks. On either side of the harbor were various buildings for equipment, shipments going out, and shipments which were waiting to be picked up. Natsu broke his team up into three groups: Team Pink compromised of himself, Erza, and Gildarts and had been placed on the roof of the building right in front of the docks. The two other teams are set up on the roofs of the other buildings flanking Natsu's right and left.

_We have eyes on all sides_ , Natsu thought.

Glancing at his watch, Natsu realized how little time they had left. It was twelve fifty-five: five minutes before _The Pegasus_ was suspected to arrive. He couldn't help the shaking of his hands and the coldness inching in his fingers and toes. He wasn't nervous; oh no, far from it. He was _excited_. After so many years of coming up with nothing when the case was first filed, it was Natsu and his team who were making the breakthroughs.

And this was sure to be a big one.

“Teams Black and Blue, be ready,” Natsu ordered into the microphone. “We have less than five minutes before the package comes in.” Muffled replies came through his walkie and Natsu looked to Erza who seemed just as excited as him.

_This is it. No screw ups._

Just as Hargeon’s town bell tolled one, Natsu heard something on the water. It didn’t sound like the waves lapping or a gentle breeze blowing: it was the sound of a motor. A big motor.

_It’s here_.

Reaching for his binoculars, Natsu raised them to his face and peered through the lens to see a large white boat approaching the docks. He narrowed his eyes to Erza, trying to keep his movements as limited as possible to avoid any and all detection who carefully lifted the walkie-talkie to her mouth.

“The package is here. I repeat, the package is here,” she whispered urgently.

Watching the ship through his binoculars, Natsu saw it come up to one of the docks right in front of the building he and his team were occupying. The only thing he found odd was that the side of the ship with the name printed on it wasn’t facing them. Adjusting his vision, Natsu peered closer at the ship in an attempt to see inside. Even from where he was and with the binoculars, he couldn’t see much inside. The windows weren’t tinted but it was pitch black which he also considered odd. If someone was supposed to be sailing a ship, especially the size of the one docked then, they would need lights. Lots of them. As he scanned the rest of the ship, Natsu also noticed the lights in front of the ship weren’t turned on.

_Something’s off_.

“Teams Blue and Black, prepare for an attack,” Natsu said urgently. Erza turned to him with confusion.

“Something’s not right here,” he said. Just as he spoke those words, the sound of gunshots being fired caused Natsu, Erza, and Gildarts to scoot away from the edge of the roof. Flipping over to his back, Natsu pulled out his own handgun and turned to Erza who also preparing her weapon.

“Tell the other teams to get into defensive position,” he shouted over the gunfire. Erza nodded and yanked out her walkie, repeating Natsu’s order into the microphone. Spinning back onto his front, Natsu shuffled his way to the fire escape at the back of the roof to climb down and get closer to the enemies. As soon as his hand reached the top of the ladder, Natsu swung his left leg around to the side of it and slid down, trying to ignore the stinging cuts on his hands left by protruding pieces of metal all along the poles of the ladder.

When he came to the end of the fire escape, he jumped down a few feet and lifted up his gun as he walked around to the side facing the boat. Suddenly, a figure wearing all black and pointing an AR-15 right at Natsu. Without hesitating, Natsu fired his own gun and quickly side-stepped over the unknown person’s dead body. As he got closer to the docks, he heard more gunfire coming from the building to the right where Team Black had been staked out. Allowing himself to take a quick glance at the building, he saw the members of the team—Gajeel, Levy, and Cana—closing in on the enemies. Coming up in front of the building his team had been occupying, Natsu also saw Gray, Juvia, and Jellal—Team Blue—approaching the boat.

A few of the people clad in black were defending the ship itself but Natsu figured there would be more inside. Taking a few more shots, Natsu saw the last of the enemies human barrier go down.

“Go, go, go!” Natsu shouted to his friends. Lowering their weapons only a little bit, everyone quickened their pace to get into the ship. Natsu was the first to approach it and ran up the board leading to the deck of the boat. Once everyone was on it, another round of gunshots were fired and Natsu and his teammates pressed themselves up against one of the walls underneath the bridge.

“Team Blue, go around the deck and take out any of the enemies down here,” Natsu shouted. “Team Black, come with me to infiltrate the bridge. Let’s go, go, go!” The members of Team Blue on Natsu’s left side raised their weapons and ran around their cover zone to search the rest of the deck. Natsu turned to the rest of the members and saw Gajeel open a door behind him. Guns raised and pointed up at the sky, Natsu, Gajeel, Levy, and Cana hurried inside.

Every single light was off and combined with the darkness of the night, Natsu could barely see an inch in front of his nose. Finally, he was able to pull out a flashlight from his belt and held it underneath his gun, pointing the beam straight ahead of him and his team. As they all walked down the hallway, there was still the occasional gunfire which meant either Erza and Gildarts had found some stragglers or Team Blue had already found their targets on the deck.

Suddenly, when they all neared the end of the hallway, three figures popped up and began firing. Immediately, Natsu and the gang bounced back against the adjacent walls of the hall, aiming and firing. While Natsu struggled with reloading his weapon, he noticed a door in front of him on the left side of the hall. He hadn’t noticed it before since his beam of light was only focused straight ahead of him. Thinking it was the door to the bridge, he caught the attention of Cana who agreed with a nod to go with him. She turned her back to the gunfire and swung the door open, running into the darkness with Natsu hot on her tail.

Holding his flashlight under his gun again, Natsu scanned the short hallway which led to a set of stairs a few feet in front of them. Cana came up on the first step and pointed her gun up, trying to see if anyone was waiting for them on the staircase. Natsu pointed the beam upwards to give her some light and when she nodded it was clear, they began running upward. Their pounding feet echoed against the metal of the stairs and suddenly two figures appeared at the top and began shooting.

Cana and Natsu tried to press themselves up against the adjacent railing to avoid the bullets but they weren’t quick enough. As they took cover, Cana let out a piercing scream and grabbed her left shoulder. Natsu snapped to her and forced her to remove her hand for him to look at the injury. He shined his light on the wound but the mess of blood and severed flesh made it difficult for him to find the bullet. It was probably deep inside, possibly buried near the joint or further in, depending if it went through bone or not. Cana began slipping against the railing to sit on the stairs, gripping her shoulder again.

“Keep going,” she whispered. “You can make it. I’ll be alright until you get back.” Natsu hurriedly grabbed his walkie and pressed the button to get across to Erza and Gildarts. Hopefully, they were both okay as well.

“Captain! Captain, this is Natsu! Over!” he shouted over the gunfire and the ricocheting bullets hitting the metal walls around them.

“Natsu! Where are you? Where’s everyone else?” Erza answered.

“We’ve infiltrated the ship and ended up splitting up. Cana and I started heading up to the bridge when we were attacked. Cana’s been injured.”

“What?!” Gildarts’ voice shouted over as Erza prepared to answer. Natsu glanced at Cana who shook her head and let out a small laugh.

“I’m alright, old man,” she said. “Just a bullet to the shoulder.”

“Cana…” Gildarts began, but Erza cut him off.

“I want you to retreat, _now_ ,” she said urgently. “Officer Clive and I have detained enough of the enemy to bring them in for questioning. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, do you understand me?” Natsu sighed heavily but nodded. He couldn’t make it up the stairs with two or more enemies shooting at him from up top.

“Okay,” he replied, starting to hoist Cana up on his shoulders. “Cana and I are headed back now. Have someone get to the top of our building and sharpshoot the bastards on the bridge. I still want everyone on this goddamn ship in for questioning.”

“Alright,” Erza said with hesitation. “Just make it back safely, Detective Dragneel.” Clipping his walkie back on his belt, Natsu hoisted Cana back up on his shoulders when he felt the ship move beneath his feet. Righting himself and Cana, Natsu suddenly realized someone at the bridge was revving the ship's engine to move it out from the dock.

“Shit,” Natsu grumbled, gripping Cana harder against him as he headed back towards the door they came out of.

“Someone’s…taking the ship back out?” Cana asked wearily. Natsu narrowed his eyes at her and saw she was becoming extremely pale, her hand caked in blood and more seeping through her fingers.

“Hey, c’mon, Cana, stay with me,” Natsu said, hurrying down the hallway as quickly as he could without jostling her too much or losing his grip. “We’re almost there and then we’ll get you checked out. You’re gonna be fine, ya hear me?” All Cana could muster in reply was a short grunt. Natsu kept glancing at her now and again, watching her struggle to stay awake.

Once the two were back on the deck of the boat, Natsu saw how far they had gotten from the docks. Whoever was driving the ship had already steered it a good five feet away. Normally, no one on Natsu’s team would’ve thought twice about making the swim but he was now carrying someone who was seriously injured. And there was guaranteed to be gunfire once they dove into the water. Lowering his partner against the railing, Natsu quickly began removing his shirt.

“C’mon, Natsu, you know I don’t like you like that,” Cana laughed. Natsu smiled, somewhat relieved she still had enough energy to joke around but when he looked at her, he saw how weak she was, her comment nothing more than a whisper he was just close enough to hear.

“I’m just gonna tie up your shoulder. It won’t keep it from getting infected but hopefully it’ll stanch the bleeding until we get across,” he said, gingerly wrapping the fabric around Cana’s shoulder. She closed her eyes and bit her lip through the pain, only whimpering when Natsu tied the knot to secure it. Stepping back for a moment to observe his handiwork, he noticed how quickly the makeshift gauze became seeped with blood.

_Not good_ , he thought. Not wanting to worry her, Natsu smiled and helped Cana up onto his back. Leaning over the railing of the boat, Natsu took a few more deep breaths as he prepared to dive into the water.

“Hold on tight for me, Cana,” he said. The docks were getting further and further away, making Natsu feel more uneasy about the swim. He prayed nothing would go wrong.

“I’ll try,” she said. Flinging himself over the railing, Natsu plunged into the water head-first.

Fortunately, the ocean wasn’t unforgivingly cold due to the warm temperatures of late summer. However, as Natsu swam back up to the surface, he worried that in her already weakened condition, Cana would find the water freezing. Just as his head broke the surface of the waves, Natsu heard the gunfire he feared would follow their escape. Diving back under to avoid the bullets, Natsu gripped Cana’s hands with one of his own and kicked his legs as hard as he could to make up for being able to use only one of his arms.

Bullets whizzed past him as Natsu forced himself to swim as long as he could without coming up for air. He knew if he did he risked not only getting himself shot but also Cana. However, combined with the overexertion of swimming with dead weight and not being able to see much underwater, Natsu had to graze the surface again to take a breath. Upon his head crowning the water, he could hear shouts from the boat which he could only guess were orders to fire. His cherry blossom pink hair wasn’t exactly discreet, especially in the dark. Despite the short amount of time he took to resurface, Natsu was met with a slew of gunshots. He quickly dove back under but not quickly enough. Just as he slipped back beneath the dark waters, Cana let out a waterlogged scream and Natsu saw the blood drifting up in front of him.

_Fuck!_ he shouted to himself. Cana had been hit again and now he had to come back up to let her breathe. Using what seemed like the last of his energy, Natsu kicked up to give Cana some air and swam as quickly as he could the rest of the way to the docks. Thankfully, the gunshots eventually faded but Cana was still moaning in pain. He had taken too long and now she was suffering from two injuries, one of which was completely exposed to the murky waters of Hargeon.

“Help! Help, we need help!” Natsu screamed breathlessly as he reached the nearest dock. Cana let out a piercing wail as Natsu tried to lift her out of the water first but he sighed with relief when he heard thundering footsteps hurtling towards them.

“Cana!” Natsu recognized the voice as Gildarts and guilt immediately shot through his heart. He had let Gildarts’ one and only child get shot not once but twice and it was all his fault. He worried how he would face his superior but he didn’t have much time because Cana was suddenly yanked out of the water and Natsu heard footsteps pounding away, hopefully towards an ambulance Erza had already called.

“Natsu?!” another worried voice shouted.

“I’m here, I’m alright,” he replied, lifting himself out from the water and onto the wood of the dock. Turning around, Natsu saw it was Erza who had called his name in fear. Upon seeing he was completely uninjured, she sighed and pressed her forehead against his.

“I heard the gunshots being fired from the boat and I began so worried,” she explained. Startled by her kindness, Natsu couldn’t help but look at her with a stunned expression.

“Well, I’m fine,” he replied once Erza stepped back. “It’s Cana I’m worried about. She was shot in the water while we were making our escape.” The two glanced over to the flashing red and white lights behind them back at the buildings Natsu’s teams were staked out on. Even from their distance, he could see Gildarts helping the paramedics lift Cana into the back of the vehicle and scrambling to get in.

“Don’t worry,” Erza reassured him. “She’s strong and a good fighter. She’ll make it through.” She looked back to Natsu who was still staring at the ambulance as it sped away. “And Gildarts won’t be angry with you.” He shifted his eyes to his captain. “It couldn’t have been avoided. You did the best you could. He’ll understand.” Natsu let his eyes drift back to where the ambulance had stood and rose up himself.

“C’mon,” he said. “I want to check back with everyone else and bring in the ones who you and Officer Clive captured.” Erza remained silent for a while and Natsu turned to her, a looked of disappointment on her face.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone to bring in for interrogation, Detective Dragneel,” she said. “Each of the ones we captured all had cyanide pills hidden in their mouths. They took it before Officer Clive or myself could stop them.”

Dumbstruck by the news, Natsu stared at Erza in disbelief. It was unbelievable. Just when he thought this would be their first major breakthrough in this case, it went and backfired on them. They would never get another opportunity like this one again. It was their one and only shot and it had been sabotaged.

_That’s it,_ he thought. _We were sabotaged_.

“We’ve been set up,” Natsu said, starting to walk towards his comrades. Erza quickly picked up her pace to walk alongside him, confused.

“How? Zancrow has no way of contacting anyone from his faction and no one knows what’s happened to him,” she said.

“Well, someone somewhere found out and was able to relay it back to Zeref,” Natsu insisted. “He knew we’d be here to infiltrate his shipment so he figured he'd send some goons to try and kill as many of us off as humanly possible in one night.”

“So then the real _Pegasus_ is somewhere else entirely and Zeref and Zancrow’s faction leaders are there right now receiving the cargo,” Erza surmised. Natsu nodded. “Where will we even be able to go from here?” Natsu was silent for a moment before he spoke up again.

“We might’ve lost this one, but we’ll find another way,” he said confidently. “This isn’t the end, Zeref.”

 

 

********

 

 

It was nearly pitch black out, save for the large flashlights everyone carried. Lucy and Zeref stood armed and ready by the dock in Oak Town. The two stood next to Ultear, the faction leader in Magnolia who had heard one of her members—Zancrow—had gone missing. She had rescheduled and arranged for _The Pegasus_ the dock in Oak Town, one of the only docking locations near Magnolia besides Hargeon and Cedar. Because of the town’s historical significance, the mayor had stepped up security, including over by the docks. Not wanting to draw any more attention than the two big ships scheduled to come in any minute, Ultear made sure herself and her selected faction members disarmed all the cameras around the dock.

It was imperative they weren’t caught.

From what Lucy knew of the situation, Zancrow had been missing for a while—almost a two weeks—and Ultear feared it was the doing of Magnolia law enforcement. Word was that the detectives in Magnolia were reopening Zeref’s old case, though no one really knew who was headlining the investigation.

Or they did know and Lucy was being kept in the dark.

Either way, _The Pegasus_ shipment had been scheduled in Hargeon, the closest docking town near Magnolia. However, due to fear of compromise, Zeref sent in a decoy to keep the detectives busy while the real _Pegasus_ arrived at Oak Town. Anyone who had been sent on the ship was instructed to kill on sight and if captured were given cyanide. Zeref’s hope was that a small number of the detectives on his case would be killed in the fight and the confusion would deter them from continuing their investigation.

But Lucy hoped in her heart of hearts that whoever was looking to take down Zeref was successful.

“Here come the ships,” someone shouted from on top of the roof of one of the buildings. Zeref, Lucy, and Ultear approached the dock, guns in hands as they watched the shadows of one large ship and one medium sized ship sail through the waters.

“Both right on time,” Ultear smiled.

“Let’s hope the decoy has good results before we celebrate, shall we, Ultear?” Zeref said, a hint of anger in his voice. He was upset that one of his most trusted leaders lost track of one her own. Rerouting _The Pegasus_ had been a headache for both her and Zeref and he had taken out quite a bit of his anger on Lucy, whether it was violent sex or just violence. Her breasts were now turning a dark purple.

Once the ships were roped on the docks, two people emerged from each, a pair heading towards Ultear— _The Pegasus_ captains—and the other two walking to Zeref—the decoy captains.

“Your Highnesses,” one of them said.

“Kyôka and Seilah,” Zeref said. “Please tell me you were successful in your mission.” The two women glanced at one another before dropping to their knees.

“We lost many of our and as far as we know, we only injured one of the detectives involved in the investigation,” Kyôka explained. Lucy looked from the kneeling women to Zeref who’s expression turned dark.

“How utterly disappointing,” he sighed. Without hesitation, he lifted his AR-15 and put a series of bullets through the women’s heads. It took everything inside Lucy to prevent herself from jumping or crying. The women’s bodies fell forward and their blood pooled around both Lucy’s and Zeref’s feet.

“Get them out of my sight,” he announced. Two lackeys hurried to drag the bodies away as Zeref walked up to Ultear to check over _The Pegasus’s_ shipment. Lucy stayed behind for a moment to collect herself before joining him.

“Everything is still accounted for, Your Highness,” Ultear said, now holding a clipboard with her own AR-15 swung over her shoulders. “You will be able to take your half tonight.”

“Excellent,” Zeref replied, spinning on his heel. “I’ll expect my trucks filled and at the compound in no less than an hour.”

“Of course,” Ultear replied, bowing to Zeref as he left. Lucy came up on his side quickly and followed him to their vehicle.

“Those damned detectives won’t stop now,” he grumbled.

“How do you know? They might not have another angle,” Lucy said. Zeref laughed and shook his head.

“You don’t know them like I do,” was all he said. The two stopped at the car and climbed in, Lucy silent as Zeref started the engine and pulled away, heading back to the compound. As they drove away, Lucy kept staring at her boots which were still covered in crusted blood.


End file.
